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Consolatio: 


COMFORT  FOE  THE  AFFLICTED. 


Si  preface  anli  Notes 


BY     THE 


REV.   P.  H.  GREENLEAF,  M.  A. 


"  I  have  chosen  thee,  in  the  furnace  of  afHiction."....  Isaiah,  48  :  10. 


BOSTON    AND    CAMBRIDGE  : 
JAMES    MUNROE     AND    COMPANY, 

H  DCCC  XLIX. 


') 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  tlie  year  1M9, 

By  p.  H.  Greesleaf, 

in  the  Clorii's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  tlie  District  of  Mat«acliuiettg. 


BOSTON  : 

THURSTON,   TORBV   AND  COMPANY, 
31  Devonsliire  Street. 


AFFLICTION  COMETH  NOT  FORTH  FROM  THE  DUST,  NEITHER 
DOTH  TROUBLE  SPRING  OUT  OF  THE  GROUND.  THOUGH  THE 
I^RD  CAUSE  GRIEF,  YET  WILL.  HE  HAVE  COMPASSION  ACCOR- 
DING TO  THE  MULTITUDE  OF  HIS  MERCIES.  IF  YE  ENDURE 
CHASTENING,  GOD  DEALETH  WITH  YOU,  AS  WITH  SONS,  FOR 
YOUR  PROFIT,  THAT  YE  MIGHT  BE  PARTAKERS  OF  HIS  HOLI- 
NESS. 


LET  NOT   TOUR  HEART  BE  TROUBLED;   TE  BELIEVE 
IN  GOD,   BELIEVE  ALSO  IN  ME. 


PREFACE. 


The  following  pages  are  intended  for  the  use 
of  those,  who  are  under  the  personal  experience 
of  the  Divine  discipline  of  sickness  or  sorrow. 
They  contain  such  variety  of  practical  and  profit- 
able thoughts,  as  are  adapted  to  the  different 
aspects  of  trouble  or  trial ;  and  they  are  designed 
to  form,  in  this  manner,  a  Manual  of  Devotional 
Meditation,  which  should  guide  souls,  darkened 
and  distracted  in  the  deep  night  of  human  suf- 
fering, to  Him,  "Who,"  in  the  soul-revealing 
light  of  his  discovered  presence,  alone,  "  giveth 
songs  in  the  night."  ^ 

It  is  not  necessary  to  designate,  specifically, 
the  sources  whence  these  thoughts  were  derived, 
since  they  are  brought  together  to  serve  a  pur- 

•  Job,  xxxT.  10. 


VI  PREFACE. 

pose,  not  perhaps  designed  by  the  writers  them- 
selves ;  and  being  selected  without  reference  to 
theological  opinions,  the  mind  is  thus  deprived 
of  a  bias,  which,  even  insensibly,  a  name  might 
suggest.  And  hence,  there  are,  beside  some 
original  matter,  alterations  and  additions,  for 
which  the  undersigned  is  alone  responsible. 
Other  works  there  are  in  the  same  department 
of  alleviation.  Some,  leading  the  mind  to  dis- 
sipate itself  in  the  paths  of  poetry,  indulge  the 
"luxury  of  grief";  and  some,  pointing  to  a 
"more  excellent  way,"  do,  indeed,  comfort  and 
solace,  even  while  they  seem  to  wound.  But 
this  work,  containing,  as  the  critical  reader  will 
perceive,  the  writings  of  Thomas-a-Kempis, 
Leighton,  Taylor,  Cecil,  Wilberforce,  Hall, 
Maiming,  and  others,  will  be  found  to  differ  from 
those  generally  in  use ;  and  it  is  hoped,  will  not 
on  this  account,  prove  of  less  practical  applica- 
tion to  the  real  sources  of  human  pain. 

The  work  was  originally  prepared,  by  a  most 
patient  and  suffering  servant  of  Jesus  Christ, 
during  the  hours  of  a  long  and  wearisome  sick- 


PREFACE.  Vll 

ness ;  and  bears,  upon  its  face,  the  imprint  of  a 
personal  acquaintance  with  sorrow ;  an  imprint, 
such  as  cannot  be  discerned  but  from  experience 
of  this  process  of  heavenly  discipline.  It  was 
introduced  to  the  public  after  her  death,  by  a 
clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England,  prefaced 
by  a  strong  and  hearty  commendation,  from  the 
pen  of  one  of  the  most  eminent  Prelates  of  that 
communion.  And  the  rapidity  with  which  it 
has  passed  through  its  several  editions,  is  a  suf- 
ficient guaranty  of  its  entire  adaptation  to  the 
case  of  "  all  those,  who,  in  this  transitory  life, 
are  in  trouble,  sorrow,  need,  sickness,  or  any 
other  adversity."  The  history  of  the  endurance 
of  hardness  as  "  good  soldiers  in  Christ  Jesus  " 
is  ^ere  combined  with  that  profit  of  suffering, 
whereby  our  Heavenly  Father  would  make  his 
children  "partakers  of  his  holiness."  The  out- 
lined process  of  pain  is  combined  with  sugges- 
tions of  "  the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness  " 
to  be  gathered  by  "  them,  which  are  exercised 
thereby."  And  in  these  thoughts  of  Peace,  it  is 
hoped,    there   may   be    ministered    strength    to 


▼ifi  PREFACE. 


those,  who  bear  the  burden  of  the  Lord,  as  well 
as  key-notes  for  meditations  in  those  interveds  of 
stillness  and  silence,  which  form  so  large  a  por- 
tion of  life  in  the  sick-chamber.  W 
The  person,  whose  patient  hand  traced  the 
greater  part  of  this  volume,  first  for  her  own 
use,  and  afterward,  as  it  has  proved,  for  that  of 
other  sufferers,  would  have  shrunk  instinctively 
from  the  publicity  thus  given  to  the  outline  of 
her  own  thoughts,  and  the  consequent  attention 
attracted  to  the  peculiarities  of  her  own  case. 
"  Her  heart,"  says  one  well  able  to  judge,  "  was 
a  well  tuned  instrument  of  most  delicate  touch, 
responding  to  every  high  and  holy  thought  or 
desire.     There  was  a  dignity,  and  a  purity,  and 
a  devotedness,  and  a  heavenliness,  in   all   her 
ways    from    her   very    childhood, — her    sweet 
childhood,  which  seemed  to  mark  her  out,  as 
one  called  to  be  a  special  witness  for  the  Holy 
One  against  all  kinds  of  pollution."     How  faith- 
fully she  bore  this  witness,  adds  her  biographer, 
they  best  know,  whom  her  bright  presence  glad- 
dened most  constantly. 


PREFACE.  IZ 

"  Through  that  hour  of  great  darkness,  which 
in  some  degree  overshadows  all,  when  first  the 
conscience  apprehends  the  presence  of  a  personal 
God,  she  peissed  early  into  the  clear  calm  light 
of  glad  and  holy  service.  God  had  given  her  a 
spirit,  in  which  were  habitually  blended  the  most 
simple  tenderness  and  the  purest  gaiety :  she  was 
the  delight  of  all  around  her, — her  husband, 
her  family,  her  friends.  *  I  shall  never  forget,' 
says  the  friend  whose  words  are  quoted  above, 
*  the  way  in  which  she  last  took  leave  of  me. 
Pure,  earnest,  loveable  spirit,  in  a  most  fitting 
tabernacle ! 

"  But  she  was  thought  worthy  of  a  better  por- 
tion than  the  best  this  world  can  give,  and  was 
early  cast  into  the  refining  fires. 

"Her  health,  which  had  never  been  strong, 
failed  wholly  in  1836 ;  and  from  that  time  till 
her  release,  in  1843,  her  life  was  one  scarcely 
intermitted  sickness.  All  forms  of  this  sharp 
but  loving  discipline  were  sent  to  her  in  turn. 
Weakness,  weariness,  exhaustion,  pain,  the  ebb- 
ing of  a  scarcely-perceptible  decay,  and  the  sore 


Zl  PREFACE. 

struggles  of  hardly-retiring  life,  —  all  in  turn 
tried  her  faith,  and,  through  God's  abounding 
grace,  perfected  her  patience.  To  these  must 
be  added  the  privations  which  belong  to  such  a 
state  of  heedth,  and  which  none  could  feel  more 
acutely.  The  glad  spirit  which  God  had  given 
her,  delighted  to  pour  forth  its  chastened  gaiety 
in  the  smishine  hours  of  family  and  friendly  in- 
tercourse. Few  ever  loved  the  beauties  of  na- 
ture with  so  pure  and  sirdent  an  affection,  or 
rejoiced  more  in  free  and  open  converse  with 
the  works  of  God  in  earth,  and  air,  and  sky, 
and,  beyond  all,  perhaps,  in  '  the  great  and  wide 
sea.'  Yet  from  these,  for  lengthened  periods, 
she  was  altogether  withdrawn ;  and  with  them 
from  that  assembling  of  the  saints  in  prayer  and 
praise,  which  was  dearer  to  her  by  far  than  every 
glorious  sight  or  sound  in  nature. 

"  The  last  left  to  her  of  these  external  things 
was  the  sea-shore ;  and  often  did  she  speak  of 
God's  great  goodness  in  so  long  continuing  to 
her  this  enjoyment.  But  the  time  c£ime  when 
this  also  was  withheld :  when  the  sick-room  and 


PREFACE.  XI 

the  sick-bed,  with  their  weariness  and  their  pain, 
were,  as  far  as  outward  things  could  reach,  her 
only  and  unrelieved  portion :  when  days  of 
languor,  succeeding  restless  nights,  found  and 
left  her  on  the  same  couch  of  stillness  and  suf- 
fering." 

It  is  in  the  experience  of  the  sick-chamber, 
and  the  secrecy  of  unobserved  grief,  that  the 
most  blessed  results  of  human  suffering  are  often 
obtained.  "  The  heart  knoweth  its  own  bitter- 
ness," and  there  are  sorrows  as  well  as  joys, 
"with  which  a  stranger  intermeddleth  not." 
But  it  is  here,  that  God's  great  goodness  is  often 
most  signally  naanifest  in  the  increase  of  the 
interior  faith.  Removed,  by  such  circumstances, 
from  the  sympathies  and  charities,  which  so 
bless  and  soothe  the  hoiu:  of  trial,  the  mind  is 
dfiveu  back  upon  itself,  and  compelled  more 
fully  to  enter  into  the  presence  of  Christ,  and 
cast  its  burden  more  entirely  on  the  Lord.  The 
suffering  is  endured  alone,  only  that  the  sufferer 
may  more  fully  be  sensible,  that  the  Lord  is 
with  him.     He  is  compelled  to  forego  his  own 


Bl  PREFACE. 

wishies,  either  in  thfe  extent,  or  duration  of  his 
pain,  only  that  he  may  be  more  fully  conformed 
to  the  Divine  will.  He  is  made  partaker  of  the 
sufferings  of  Christ,  only  that  the  "power  of 
Christ's  resurrection  " '  may  be  more  fully  exerted 
upon  him,  —  that  self  may  be  more  fully  sub- 
dued; and,  that  being  called  to  endure  the 
temptations  and  trials  of  sickness  or  sorrow, 
without  yielding  to  repining  or  selfishness,  or 
impatience,  he  may  be  crucified 2  unto  Christ 
with  the  affections  and  lusts  ;  that  he  may  be 
conformed  •*  more  and  more  to  the  image  of 
Christ,  grace  for  grace,  and  glory  for  glory. 
"  And  there  should  be  no  greater  comfort  to 
Christian  persons,  than  to  bf  made  like  unto 
Christ,  by  suffering  patiently  adversities,  troubles, 
and  sickness.  For  He  Himself  went  not  up  to 
joy,  but  first  He  suffered  pain ;  He  entered  not 
into  His  glory  before  He  was  crucified.  So  truly 
our  way  to  eternal  joy  is  to  suffer  here  with 
Christ ;  and  our  door  to  enter  into  eternal  life 
is  gladly  to  die  with  Christ ;  that  we  may  rise 

'  Phillip,  iii.  10.  '  Galat.  v.  24.  ^  Rom.  riii.  29. 


PREFACE.  Xlll 

again  from  death,  and  dwell  with  Him  in  ever- 
lasting life."  I 

Nor  is  the  loneliness  of  the  suffering,  and  the 
secrecy  of  the  sorrow  of  the  child  of  God, 
wholly  lost  to  the  Church  on  earth,  because  of 
the  obscurity  or  darkness  of  the  heavenly  dis- 
cipline. His  prayers  "  come  up  as  a  memoried 
before  God,"  with  the  incense  of  the  prayers  of 
all  the  saints,  from  his  own  Altar.^  And  while 
the  rich  offer  of  their  abundance,  and  the  wise 
from  their  treasures  of  wisdom,  he  is  able  to 
cast  in  more  than  they  all,  in  his  intercessions 
for  the  body  of  Christ's  Church  Militant.  And 
we  know  not  how  far  the  prosperity,  the  purity, 
and  the  safety  of  the  Church  even,  is  dependent 
upon  the  continual  intercession,  made  from  the 
unseen  Altars  of  subdued  hearts  and  sanctified 
sufferings.  The  trial  of  faith  results,  too,  in  the 
benefit  of  a  Christian  example.  The  light,  re- 
kindled and  brightened  in  the  crucible  of  pain, 
fed  by  the  unseen  oil   of   faith   and  patience, 


'  En?,  and  Amer.  Office  for  the  Visitation  of  the  Sick. 

9  Rev.  Tui.  4.  '* 


ItiV  PREFACE. 

bums  brightly  and  is  seen  of  men,  and  they 
glorify  our  Father  who  is  in  Heaven.  What  an 
example  is  thus  set  of  patience,  of  meekness,  of 
heavenly-mindedness,  of  submission  to  the  will 
of  God !  What  a  living  attestation  is  given  to 
the  power  of  His  Word,  and  the  faithfulness  of 
His  promises !  And  how  does  one  and  another 
see  beside  such  sufferers  the  "fourth  form  like 
unto  the  Son  of  God,"  and  themselves,  wedking 
in  the  midst  of  the  fire,  unhurt,  and  upon  whom 
the  fire,  evidently,  has  no  power  to  cast  down ! 
How  often  are  they  ministers  of  mercy,  in 
their  lessons  of  wisdom  and  patience,  to  those, 
whom  lesser  triads  cause  to  faint,  and  who  have 
but  just  begun  to  bear  the  biuden  and  heat  of 
the  day. 

Such  is  described  to  have  been  the  character 
of  the  suffering  child  of  God,  of  whom  we  have 
spoken  ;  fervent  in  her  prayers ;  child-like  in  her 
submission  ;  great  in  her  patience  ;  with  conver- 
sation full  of  wisdom  and  love.  Through  all 
her  sufferings,  her  faith  and  patience  endured 
unshaken  and  unwearied,  even  till  her  peaceful 


PREFACE.  XV 

and  blessed  end.  To  her  reconciled  Father  in 
Christ  Jesus,  she  had  trusted  all  her  hopes,  and 
by  Him  she  was  kept  in  perfect  peace,  until  He 
had  completed  His  work  within  her,  and  made 
her  meet  for  that  nearer  presence,  after  which 
her  loving  spirit  thirsted  so  ardently.  "  What  a 
wonderful  world,"  she  said  in  one  of  her  last 
letters,  "  this  is !  but  He  will  set  all  things  right 
at  last !  Oh,  that  He  would  come  !  Oh,  how  I 
long  sometimes  to  hear  His  Voice !  that  Voice ! 

and  to  see  His  face ! to  hear  Him  say, 

'  Thou  art  mine ;  I  have  loved  thee  with  an 
everlasting  love ! '  to  fall  at  His  feet  and  wor- 
ship Him  in  tl^ie  still  and  satisfied  hush  and 
rapture  of  love's  deep  adoration,  when  the  heart 
knows  it  has  possession  of  perfect  blessedness." 

And  so  she  passed  from  us,  says  her  biogra- 
pher, into  the  rest  of  Paradise,  and  the  waiting 
for  her  crown. 

This  little  volume  is  her  memorial ;  and  it  is 
addressed  to  all  those,  who  are  "any  ways 
afflicted  or  distressed  in  mind,  body,  or  estate," 
and  thus  called,  in  any  respect,  to  the  fellowship 


Xn  PREFACE. 

of  Christ's  sufferings,  in  the  hope  and  desire, 
that  it  may  help  them  to  know  Christ,  and  the 
power  of  His  resurrection,  being  made  conform- 
able to  His  death ;  and  that  "  for  what  cause 
soever,  the  visitation  be  sent  unto  them,  it  may 
turn  to  their  profit,  and  help  them  forward  in 
the   right   way,    that   leadeth   unto   everlasting 

life." 

P.  H.  Greenleaf. 

Feast  of  the  Ascension,  1849. 


CauBolatio. 


Meek  and  reverent  Submission. 

He  is  not  worthy  to  pass  for  thy  child  that  re- 
ceives not  thy  stripes  with  reverent  meekness : 
tears  may  be  here  allowed  ;  but  a  reluctant  frown 
were  no  better  than  a  rebellion. 

Let  infidels,  then,  and  ignorants,  who  think 
they  suffer  by  chance,  repine  at  their  adversities, 
and  be  dejected  with  their  afflictions  :  for  me, 
who  know  that  I  have  a  Father  in  heaven  full  of 
mercy  and  compassion,  whose  providence  hath 
measured  out  to  a  scruple  the  due  proportions  of 
my  sorrows,  counting  my  sighs,  and  reserving 
the  tears  which  He  wrings  from  me  in  his  bottle;  ^ 
why  do  I  not  patiently  lie  down  and  put  my 
mouth  in  the  dust,  meekly  submitting  to  his  holy 
pleasure,  and  blessing  the  hand  from  which  I 
smart  ? 

»-    •  •  ••  iPsalm  Ivi.  8.  ^'        '■'     '"«.    '         -j  • 

1 


9  CONSOLATIO. 

Affliction^  like  the  night-storm  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee. 

Jesus  is  now  on  the  mount;  his  disciples  on 
the  sea ;  ^  yet  while  thus  employed  in  his  sublime 
contemplations,  he  could  see  his  absent  disciples, 
and  pity  them  while  tossed  on  the  waves.  That 
all-piercing  Eye  is  restrained  by  no  limits.  At 
once  he  beholds  the  highest  heavens,  and  the 
midst  of  the  sea;  the  glory  of  His  Father  and 
the  misery  of  His  servants.  Whatever  prospects 
present  themselves  to  his  view,  he  can  bestow 
the  tenderest  compassion  on  the  distressed  of 
mankind. 

How  much  more,  O  Saviour,  from  the  height 
of  thine  eternal  felicity,  dost  thou  look  down  on 
us  thy  poor  creatures,  buffetted  by  the  unquiet 
waves  of  this  troublesome  world,  by  the  rude  and 
boisterous  storms  of  affliction.  Thou  didst  fore- 
see the  toil  and  danger  of  these  thy  disciples,  and 
yet  wouldst  send  them  away,  that  they  might 
experience  the  horrors  of  the  tempest.  Thou, 
who  couldst  prevent  our  sufferings  by  thy  power, 
wilt  permit  them  by  thy  wisdom,  that  thou 
mayest  glorify  thy  mercy  in  our  deliverance,  and 
confirm  our  faith  by  the  event  of  our  calamities. 

1  The  ship  was  now  ia  the  midst  of  the  sea,  tossed  with  wares, 
for  the  wind  was  contrary.  And  in  the  fourth  A\-atch  of  the  night 
Jesus  went  unto  them,  walking  on  the  sea,  and  spake  unto  them,  say- 
ing, '•'  Be  of  good  cheer  :  it  is  I :  be  not  afraid."    Matth.  xiv.  24,  25. 


CONSOLATIO.  S 

How  do  all  things  apparently  conspire  to  fill  the 
disciples  with  consternation  !  The  night  was 
dark  and  tempestuous ;  their  Master  was  absent, 
the  sea  was  strong,  the  winds  high  and  contrary. 
Had  their  Lord  been  with  them,  howsoever  the 
elements  had  raged,  they  would  have  considered 
themselves  as  secure.  Had  the  waves  been  tran- 
quil, or  the  winds  propitious,  they  might  have 
remained  in  a  state  of  serenity  during  his  ab- 
sence —  now  the  season,  the  wind,  the  sea,  and 
the  retirement  of  their  Master,  contribute  to  ren- 
der them  perfectly  miserable.  Sometimes  the 
providence  of  God  thinks  fit  so  to  direct  the 
course  of  events^  that  to  his  most  faithful  servants 
there  appears  no  glimpse  of  comfort;  but  such  an 
universal  gloominess  as  if  Heaven  and  Earth  had 
conspired  to  overwhelm  them  with  sorrow. 

Yea,  O  Saviour !  what  a  dead  night,  what  a 
fearful  tempest,  what  an  astonishing  dereliction 
was  that,  wherein  thou  thyself  criedst  out  in  the 
bitterness  of  thine  anguished  soul,  "My  God,  my 
God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?"  Yet,  in  all 
these  extremities  of  misery,  our  gracious  God  in- 
tends nothing  but  his  greater  glory  and  ours ;  the 
triumph  of  our  faith,  the  crown  of  our  victory. 

All  that  longsome  and  tempestuous  night  must 
the  disciples  wear  out  in  danger  and  horror,  as 
given  over  to  the  winds  and  waves ;  but  in  the 
fourth  watch  of  the  night,  when  they  were  wearied 


4  CONSOLATIO. 

out  with  toils  and  fears,  comes  deliverance.  At 
their  entrance  into  the  ship,  at  the  rising  of  the 
tempest,  at  the  shutting-in  of  the  evening,  there 
was  no  news  of  Christ ;  but  when  they  have  been 
all  the  night  long  beaten,  not  so  much  with  storms 
and  waves,  as  with  their  own  thoughts;  now  in 
the  fourth  watch  (which  was  near  to  the  morning) 
Jesus  came  unto  them,  and  purposely  not  till 
then ;  that  He  might  exercise  their  patience  ;  that 
He  rnight  teach  them  to  wait  upon  Divine  Provi- 
dence ;  that  their  devotions  might  be  more  whetted 
by  delay;  that  they  might  give  more  grateful 
welcome  to  their  deliverance.  O  God !  Thus  Thou 
thinkest  fit  to  do  still.  We  are  by  turns  in  our 
sea;  the  winds  bluster:  the  billows  swell:  the 
night  and  thy  absence  heighten  our  discomfort: 
thy  time  and  ours  is  set:  as  yet  it  is  but  midnight 
with  us ;  can  we  but  hold  out  patiently  until  the 
^urth  watch.  Thou  wilt  surely  come  and  rescue 
us.  O !  let  us  not  faint  under  our  sorrows,  but 
wear  out  our  three  watches  of  tribulation  with 
undaunted  patience  and  holy  resolution  ! 


Reasons  for  submission  to  the  Divine  will,  in  sickness, 
and  in  other  trials. 

Remember  that  God  hath  bound  this  sickness 
upon  thee  by  the  condition  of  nature ;  for  every 


CONSOLATIO.  5 

flower  must  wither  and  droop :  it  is  also  bound 
upon  thee  by  special  providence,  and  with  a  design 
to  try  thee,  and  with  purposes  to  reward  and  to 
crown  thee.  These  cords  thou  canst  not  break ; 
and  therefore  lie  thou  down  gently,  and  suffer  the 
hand  of  God  to  do  what  He  please,  that  at  least 
thou  mayest  swallow  an  advantage,  which  the 
care  and  severe  mercies  of  God  force  down  thy 
throat. 

Prevent  the  violence  and  trouble  of  thy  spirit 
by  an  act  of  thanksgiving;  for  which  in  the  worst 
of  sickness  thou  canst  not  want  cause,  especially 
if  thou  rememberest  that  this  pain  is  not  an  eternal 
pain. 

Propound  to  your  eyes  and  heart  the  example  of 
the  holy  Jesus  upon  the  cross.  He  endured  more 
for  thee  than  thou  canst  either  for  thyself  or  Him; 
and  remember,  that  if  we  be  put  to  suffer,  and  do 
suffer  in  a  good  cause,  or  in  a  good  manner,  so 
that  in  any  sense  your  sufferings  be  conformable 
to  his  sufferings,  or  can  be  capable  of  being  united 
to  his,  we  shall  reign  together  with  him.^  The 
highway  of  the  cross,  which  the  King  of  suffer- 
ings hath  trodden  before  us,  is  the  way  to  ease,  to 
a  kingdom,  and  to  felicity. 

It  may  be,  that  this  may  be  the  last  instance 


1  "  It  is  a  faithful  saying :  if  we  suffer,  we  shall  also  reign  with 
Him."    2  Tim.  ii.  12.  ',    .-  ■         . 


$  CONSOLATIO. 

and  the  last  opportunity  that  ever  God  will  give 
thee  to  exercise  any  virtue,  to  do  Him  any  service, 
/  or  thyself  any  advantage.  Be  careful  that  thou 
losest  not  this ;  for  to  eternal  ages  this  never  shall 
return  again. 

Sickness  is  the  opportunity  and  the  proper  scene 
of  exercising  some  virtues.  It  is  that  agony  in 
which  men  are  tried  for  a  crown.  And  if  we 
remember  what  glorious  things  are  spoken  of  the 
grace  of  faith,  — that  it  is  the  life  of  just  men,  the 
restitution  of  the  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  the 
justification  of  a  sinner,  the  support  of  the  weak, 
the  confidence  of  the  strong,  the  magazine  of  pro- 
mises, and  the  title  to  very  glorious  rewards;  we 
may  easily  imagine,  that  it  must  have  in  it  a  work 
and  a  difficulty,  in  some  proportion  answerable  to 
so  great  effects.  If  you  will  try  the  excellency, 
and  feel  the  work  of  faith,  place  the  man  in  a  per- 
secution ;  let  him  ride  in  a  storm;  let  his  bones 
be  broken  with  sorrow,  and  his  eyelids  loosened 
with  sickness;  let  his  bread  be  dipped  in  tears, 
and  all  the  daughters  of  music  be  brought  low; 
let  God  commence  a  quarrel  against  him,  and  be 
.  bitter  in  the  accents  of  his  anger  or  his  discipline; 
then  God  tries  your  faith.  Can  you  then  trust  his 
goodness,  and  believe  Him  to  be  a  father,  when 
you  groan  under  his  rod  7  Can  you  rely  upon  all 
the  strange  propositions  of  Scripture,  and  be  con- 


CONSOLATIO.  7 

tent  to  perish  if  they  be  not  true  1  Can  you  receive 
comfort  in  the  discourses  of  death  and  heaven,  of 
immortahty  and  the  resurrection,  of  the  death  of 
Christ  and  conforming  to  his  sufferings  ?  Truth 
is,  there  are  but  two  great  periods  in  which  faith 
demonstrates  itself  to  be  a  powerful  and  mighty 
grace ;  and  they  are,  persecution  and  the  ap- 
proaches of  death,  for  the  passive  part ;  and  a 
temptation,  for  the  active.  In  the  days  of  pleasure 
and  the  night  of  pain,  faith  is  to  fight  her  agonis- 
iicon,  to  contend  for  mastery ;  and  faith  overcomes 
all  alluring  and  fond  temptations  to  sin ;  and  faith 
overcomes  all  our  weaknesses  and  faintings  in  our 
troubles.  By  the  faith  of  the  promises,  we  learn 
to  despise  the  world,  choosing  those  objects  which 
faith  discovers;  and,  by  expectation  of  the  same 
promises,  we  are  comforted  in  all  our  sorrows,  and 
enabled  to  look  through  and  see  beyond  the  cloud  ; 
but  the  vigor  of  it  is  pressed  and  called  forth, 
when  all  our  fine  discourses  come  to  be  reduced 
to  practice.  For  in  our  health  and  clearer  days 
it  is  easy  to  talk  of  putting  trust  in  God;  we 
readily  trust  Him  for  life  when  we  are  in  health, 
for  provisions  when  we  have  fair  revenues,  and 
for  deliverance  when  we  are  newly  escaped :  but 
let  us  come  to  sit  upon  the  margent  of  our  grave, 
and  let  a  tyrant  lean  hard  upon  our  fortunes,  and 
dwell  upon  our  wrong;  let  the  storm  arise,  and 
the  keels  toss  till  the  cordage  crack,  or  that  all 


9  CONSOLATIO, 

our  hopes  bulge  under  us,  and  descend  into  the 
hollowness  of  sad  misfortunes;  then  can  you 
believe,  when  you  neither  hear,  nor  see,  nor  feel 
any  thing  but  objections?  This  is  the  proper 
work  of  sickness :  faith  is  then  brought  into  the 
theatre,  and  so  exercised,  that  if  it  abides  but  to 
the  end  of  the  contention,  we  may  see  the  work 
of  faith,  which  God  will  hugely  crown.  God 
hath  crowned  the  memory  of  Job  with  a  wreath 
of  glory,  because  he  sat  upon  his  dunghill  wisely 
and  temperately  ;  and  his  potsherd  and  his  groans, 
mingled  with  praises  and  justifications  of  God, 
pleased  him  like  an  anthem  sung  by  angels  in  the 
morning  of  the  resurrection.  God  could  not  choose 
but  be  pleased  with  the  delicious  accents  of  mar- 
tyrs, when  in  their  tortures  they  cried  out  nothing 
but  "  Holy  Jesus,"  and  "  Blessed  be  God ; "  and 
they  also  themselves,  who,  with  a  hearty  resig- 
nation to  the  Divine  pleasure,  can  delight  in  God's 
severe  dispensations,  will  have  the  transportations 
of  cherubim  when  they  enter  into  the  joy  of  God. 
If  God  be  delicious  to  his  servants  when  He  smites 
them,  He  will  be  nothing  but  ravishments  and 
ecstasies  to  their  spirits,  when  He  refreshes  them 
with  the  overflowings  of  joy  in  the  day  of  recom- 
pences.  No  man  is  more  miserable  than  he  that 
hath  no  adversity.  Fathers,  because  they  design 
to  have  their  children  wise  and  valiant,  apt  for 
counsel  or  for  arms,  send  them  to  severe  govern- 


CONSOLATIO.  9 

ments,  and  tie  them  to  study,  to  hard  labor,  and 
afflictive  contingencies.  They  rejoice  when  the 
bold  boy  strikes  a  lion  with  his  hunting-spear, 
and  shrinks  not  when  the  beast  comes  to  affright 
his  early  courage ;  and  the  man  that  designs  his 
son  for  noble  employments,  to  honors  and  to  tri- 
umphs, to  consular  dignities  and  presidencies  of 
councils,  loves  to  see  him  pale  with  study,  or 
panting  with  labor,  hardened  with  sufferance  or 
eminent  by  dangers.  And  so  God  dresses  us  for 
heaven.  He  loves  to  see  us  struggling  with  a 
disease,  and  resisting  the  devil,  and  contesting 
against  the  weaknesses  of  nature,  and  against  hope 
to  believe  in  hope,  resigning  ourselves  to  God's 
will,  praying  Him  to  choose  for  us,  and  dying  in 
all  things  but  faith  and  its  blessed  consequences; 
ut  ad  officium  cum  periculo  simus  prowpti ;  and 
the  danger  and  the  resistance  shall  endear  the 
office.  For  so  have  I  known  the  boisterous  north 
wind  pass  through  the  yielding  air,  which  opened 
its  bosom,  and  appeased  its  violence,  by  enter- 
taining it  with  easy  compliance  in  all  the  regions 
of  its  reception !  but  when  the  same  breath  of 
heaven  hath  been  checked  with  the  stiffness  of  a 
tower,  or  the  united  strength  of  wood,  it  grew 
mighty,  and  dwelt  there,  and  made  the  highest 
branches  stoop,  and  ifriake  a  smooth  path  for  it  on 
the  top  of  all  its  glories.  So  is  sickness,  and  so  is 
the  grace  of  God :  when  sickness  hath  made  the 


10  CONSOLATIO. 

difficulty,  then  God's  grace  hath  made  a  triumph, 
and  by  doubhng  its  power  hath  created  new  pro- 
portions of  a  reward ;  and  then  shows  its  biggest 
glory  when  it  hath  the  greatest  difficulty  to  mas- 
ter, the  greatest  weaknesses  to  support,  the  most 
busy  temptations  to  contest  with ;  for  so  God  loves 
that  his  strength  should  be  seen  in  our  weakness 
and  our  danger. 


The  Cross  of  suffering,  the  fountain  of  happiness:  the 
Cross  of  patience,  taken  up  and  borne  by  divine  grace : 
and  both  a  testimony  of  love  to  Christ.^ 

In  the  cross  is  salvation,  in  the  cross  is  life,  in 
the  cross  is  protection  from  thine  enemies ;  from 
the  cross  is  infusion  of  heavenly  Spirit,  true  for- 
titude, joy  of  the  Spirit,  conquest  of  self,  per- 
fection of  holiness.  There  is  no  health  of  the 
soul,  nor  hope  of  eternal  life,  but  in  the  cross. 
Take  up,  therefore,  thy  cross  and  follow  Jesus, 
and  thou  shalt  go  into  life  everlasting.  He 
hath  gone  before  thee,  carrying  His  cross,  upon 
which  He  died  for  thee,  that  thou  mayest  bear 

1  The  following  extract  is  made  from  the  "  Imitation  of  Christ," 
written  by  Thomas  Hamerken,  surnamed  a  Kempis,  who  was  born 
at  Kempen,  in  Germany,  A.  D.  13S0.  —  It  affords  us  sufficient  proof 
that  Christian  faith  and  devotion  of  the  highest  order,  were  stil' 
existing  in  the  Church, 


CONSOLATIO.  11 

thine  own  cross,  and  upon  that  die  to  thyself  for 
Him ;  because  if  thou  die  with  Him,  thou  shall 
also  live  with  Him ;  "  if  we  are  partakers  of  His 
sufferings,  we  shall  be  partakers  also  of  His 
glory." 

Dispose  and  order  all  things  according  as  thou 
wilt,  and  as  seems  best  unto  thee,  and  thou  wilt 
still  find  something  to  suffer,  willingly  or  unwil- 
lingly ;  and  so  thou  shall  continually  find  the 
cross  :  thou  shall  feel  either  pain  of  body,  or  dis- 
tress and  anguish  of  spirit.  Sometimes  thou  shall 
be  left  by  God's  spirit :  other  times,  thou  shall  be 
afflicted  by  thy  neighbor :  and  what  is  more,  thou 
shall  often  be  a  trouble  to  thyself — thou  shall 
feel  a  burden  such  as  no  human  help  can  remove, 
no  earthly  comfort  lighten  ;  but  bear  it  thou  must, 
as  long  as  it  is  the  will  of  God  to  continue  it  on 
thee.  But  God,  in  permitting  no  ray  of  comfort 
to  visit  thee  in  the  darkness  of  distress,  would 
have  thee  learn  to  suffer  tribulation  in  submissive 
humility,  and  resign  thy  whole  state,  present  and 
future,  to  his  absolute  disposal. 

No  man  has  so  lively  a  sense  of  the  sufferings 
of  Christ,  as  he  who  hath  suffered  such  like 
things. 

The  cross  is  always  ready,  and  waits  for  thee  in 
every  place.  Run  where  thou  wilt,  thou  canst  not 
avoid  it ;  for  wherever  thou  runnest,  thou  takesl 
thyself  with  thee,  and  art  always  sure  of  finding 


It  CONSOLATIO. 

thyself.  Turn  which  way  thou  wilt,  either  to  the 
things  above  or  to  the  things  below,  to  that  which 
is  within,  or  that  which  is  without  thee,  thou  wilt 
in  all  certainty  find  the  cross  ;  and  if  thou  would- 
est  enjoy  peace  and  obtain  the  unfading  crown  of 
glory,  it  is  necessary  that  in  every  place  and  in 
all  events  thou  shouldest  bear  it  willingly,  and  in 
patience  possess  thy  soul. 

If  thou  bearest  the  cross  willingly,  it  will  soon 
bear  thee,  and  lead  thee  beyond  the  reach  of  suf- 
fering, where  God  shall  take  away  all  suffering 
from  thy  heart.  But  if  thou  bearest  it  with  re- 
luctance, it  will  be  a  burden  inexpressively  pain- 
ful, which  yet  thou  must  still  feel ;  and  by  every 
impatient  effort  to  throw  it  from  thee,  thou  wilt 
only  render  thyself  less  and  less  able  to  sustain  its 
weight,  till  at  length  it  crush  thee. 

Why  hopest  thou  to  avoid  that  from  which  no 
human  being  has  been  exempt?  Who  among  the 
saints  hath  accomplished  his  pilgrimage  in  this 
world  without  adversity  and  distress?  Even  our 
blessed  Lord  passed  not  one  hour  of  his  most  holy 
life,  without  tasting  "the  bitter  cup  that  was 
given  him  to  drink;"  and  of  Himself  He  saith, 
that  "  it  behoved  him  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from 
the  dead,  and  so  to  enter  into  his  glory."  And 
why  dost  thou  seek  any  other  path  to  glory  but 
that  in  which,  bearing  the  cross,  thou  art  called  to 
follow  "  the  Captain  of  thy  salvation  ?"    The  life 


CONSOLATIO.  18 

of  Christ  was  a  continual  cross,  an  unbroken  chain 
of  sufferings;  and  desirest  thou  a  perpetuity  of  re- 
pose and  joy  7 

This  meek  and  patient  submission  under  it,  is 
ndt  the  effect  of  any  power  which  is  inherent  in 
man,  and  which  he  can  boast  of  as  his  own ;  but 
is  the  pure  fruit  of  the  grace  of  Christ.  No  :  it  is 
not  in  man  to  love  and  bear  the  cross ;  to  resist  the 
appetites  of  the  body,  and  bring  them  under  abso- 
lute subjection  to  the  Spirit;  to  shun  honors;  to 
receive  affronts  with  meekness;  to  bear  with  calm 
resignation  the  loss  of  fortune,  health  and  friends; 
and  to  have  no  desire  after  the  riches,  the  honors 
and  pleasures  of  the  world.  If  thou  dependest 
upon  thy  own  will  and  strength  to  do  and  to  suf- 
fer all  this,  thou  wilt  find  thyself  as  unable  to 
accomplish  it,  as  to  create  another  world ;  but  if 
thou  turnest  to  the  divine  power  within  thee,  and 
trustest  only  to  that  as  the  doer  and  sufferer  of  all, 
the  strength  of  Omnipotence  will  be  imparted  to 
thee,  and  the  world  and  the  flesh  shall  be  put 
under  thy  feet:  armed  with  this  holy  confidence, 
and  defended  by  the  cross  of  Christ,  thou  needest 
not  fear  the  most  malignant  efforts  of  thy  great 
adversary  the  devil. 

Dispose  thyself,  therefore,  like  a  true  and  faith- 
ful servant,  to  bear  with  fortitude  and  resolution 
the  cross  of  thy  blessed  Lord,  to  which  He  was 
nailed  in  testimony  of  his  infinite  love  of  thee. 


14  CONSOLATIO. 

Prepare  thy  spirit  to  suffer  patiently  the  innumer- 
able inconveniences  and  troubles  of  this  miserable 
life  ;  for  these  thou  wilt  find,  though  thou  runnest 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  or  hidest  thyself  in  its 
deepest  caverns  :  and  it  is  patient  suffering  alone 
that  can  either  disarm  their  power,  or  heal  the 
wounds  they  have  made.  Drink  freely  and  affec- 
tionately of  thy  Lord's  bitter  cup,  if  thou  desirest 
to  manifest  thy  friendship  for  Him,  and  the  part 
thou  hast  with  Him. 

To  sufier,  therefore,  is  thy  portion ;  and  to 
suffer  patiently  and  willingly,  is  the  great  testi- 
mony of  thy  love  and  allegiance  to  thy  Lord. 

If  any  way  but  bearing  the  cross  and  dying  to' 
his  own  will,  could  have  redeemed  man  from  that 
fallen  life  of  self  in  flesh  and  blood,  which  is  his 
alienation  from,  and  enmity  to,  God ;  Christ  would 
have  taught  it  in  his  word,  and  established  it  by 
his  example.  But  of  all  universally,  that  desire 
to  follow  Him,  He  has  required  the  bearing  of  the 
cross ;  and  without  exception  has  said  to  all,  "  If 
any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  him- 
self, take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  me." 

When,  therefore,  we  have  read  all  books,  and 
examined  all  methods,  to  find  out  the  path  that 
will  lead  us  back  to  the  blessed  state  from  which 
we  have  wandered,  this  conclusion  only  will  re- 
main, that  "  through  much  tribulation  we  must 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God." 


CONSOLATIO.  IQ 

The  necessity  of  and  means  for  the  subjection  of  the 
Will. 

The  greatest  blessing  which  man  can  receive, 
is  to  have  his  private  individual  will  subordinated 
to  the  sentiment  of  his  relation  with  God.  And 
yet  his  continual  business  in  this  world  is  to 
strengthen  this  individual  will,  which  opposes  the 
entrance  of  God  into  his  heart.  He  seeks  its 
gratification  in  all  things,  and  is  ever  guarding 
against  any  thing  which  may  cross  it.  He  thus 
blindly  loves  and  feeds  his  disease,  and  resists  all 
the  attempts  of  Divine  love  to  cure  it.  This 
is  man's  way,  and  it  is  a  way  which  leads  down 
to  death.  God's  way  is  to  cross  man's  way,  that 
he  may  be  turned  from  it  and  live.  He  crosses 
him  in  his  good  opinion  of  himself,  in  his  confi- 
dence in  his  own  strength  and  in  his  own  wisdom. 
He  crosses  him  m  his  favorite  schemes  of  happi- 
ness. He  sends  aflliction  after  afiiiction.  He  pours 
bitterness  into  his  soul.  He  sends  disease  and 
death  into  the  circle  of  his  friends.  He  gives  him 
up  to  the  idolatry  of  the  creature,  and  then  tears 
his  idol  from  him,  or  makes  it  a  curse  to  him.  He 
lays  him  on  a  bed  of  sickness,^  and  tries  him  with 

1  "  In  those  days  was  Hezekiah  sick  unto  death.  Then  he 
turned  his  face  toward  the  wall  and  prayed  unto  the  Lord,  and  wept 
sore.  Then  came  the  word  of  the  Lord,  saying,  I  have  heard  thy 
prayer,  I  have  seen  thy  tears." — Is.  xxxviii.  2. 


fS  CONSOLATIO. 

pain  and  restlessness,  and  brings  him  to  the 
boundary  which  separates  time  from  eternity,  and 
makes  him  look  backwards  into  past  time  and 
forwards  into  the  future  eternity,  and  shows  him 
that  he  was  made  to  dwell  with  God  through 
eternity,  and  yet  that  all  his  past  days  have  been 
spent  in  unfitting  himself  for  this  state  ;  and  He 
says  to  him,  "  How  can  thy  heart  endure  or  thy 
hands  be  strong  on  the  day  that  I  plead  with 
thee?"  turn  unto  Me,  the  only  strength  of  the 
creature.  This  is  the  way  of  God  towards  man, 
of  that  God  whose  name  is  Love :  and  this  is  the 
way  that  He  expresses  His  love.  It  is  thus  that 
He  shakes  the  bulwarks  of  independence  which 
guard  the  entrance  of  the  soul  against  God.  It  is 
thus  that  He  convinces  man  of  his  guilt,  and 
weakness,  and  ignorance,  and  misery,  and  per- 
suades him  to  open  the  door  of  his  heart  to  God, 
and  to  take  shelter  under  his  conipassionate  omni- 
potence. Blessed  are  they  who  are  persuaded  ; 
blessed  are  they  in  whose  hearts  God  makes  a 
place  for  Himself,  though  it  is  by  casting  out  all 
other  joys. 


Grod's  "purpose  of  grace  in  all  providential  dealings. 

We  know  that  the  government  of  the  world  is 
in  the  hand  of  God,  and  therefore  we  may  rest 


CONSOLATIO.  17 

assured,  that  there  is  not  a  single  link  in  the 
apparently  perplexed  chain  of  human  things 
which  does  not  connect  with,  and  guide  to,  the 
coming  glory ;  we  may  rest  assured,  not  only 
that  all  the  histories  of  the  kingdoms  of  this  world 
are  under  the  influence  of  an  unfelt  but  irresisti- 
ble control,  preparing  the  way  for  that  kingdom  . 
which  never  can  be  moved,  but  also  that  personal 
events  as  well  as  national,  private  as  well  as  pub- 
lic, are  all  under  the  same  mandate,  commissioned 
to  lead  on  to  the  same  great  consummation.  This 
truth  gives  a  seriousness  and  a  dignity  to  every 
thing :  it  banishes  littleness  from  life,  because  it 
connects  all  with  the  glory  of  God  and  the  eradi- 
cation of  evil ;  and  it  seems  to  conduct  us  under 
the  shadow  of  everlasting  and  omnipotent  love, 
where  we  may  rest  in  peace  until  all  calamities  be 
overpast. 

When  the  eye  of  the  spirit  is  thus  opened  to  see 
God  is  working  in  every  thing,  and  by  every  thing, 
to  bring  on  the  reign  of  righteousness ;  the  heart 
will  feel  itself  invited  to  the  blessed  privilege  of 
entering  into  the  purposes  of  God,  of  sympathizing 
with  the  everlasting  counsels  of  his  grace,  of 
rejoicing  in  their  assured  success,  and  of  being  a 
fellow- worker  with  him  in  every  action  of  life. 
These  actions  may  appear  small  and  insignificant 
in  the  world's  judgment,  but  the  believer  knows 
that  it  is  not  in  vain  that  the  Ruler  of  the  universe 
2 


n  CONSOLATIO. 

has  called  him  to  do  all  things  to  the  glory  of 
God.  These  are  animating  thoughts  for  poor 
wanderers  in  the  wilderness,  who  have  listened  to 
the  Saviour's  voice.  For  them  the  fall,  with  all 
its  sin,  and  misery,  and  darkness,  will  soon  pass 
away;  having  served,  under  the  control  of  Him 
,  who  bringeth  good  out  of  evil,  to  glorify  the 
Divine  attributes,  and  to  introduce  a  high,  and 
holy,  and  happy  order  of  things ;  higher,  and 
holier,  and  happier  than  that  which  Adam  lost, 
because  founded  on  a  nearer  relation  with  God, 
and  a  fuller  manifestation  of  his  character.  The 
gate  of  Eden  will  once  again  be  unbarred,  and 
the  banished  ones  be  brought  back;  and  in  the 
mean  time,  though  their  path  lie  through  the 
desert,  yet  that  path  is  the  way  of  holiness,  and 
in  it  He  will  be  with  them,  whose  presence  can 
make  the  wilderness  to  be  glad,  and  the  desert  to 
rejoice  and  blossom  like  the  rose. 


The  effects  of  the  peace  of  God. 

"  The  peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all  under- 
standing, shall  keep  your  hearts  and  minds 
through  Christ  Jesus."  ^  This  peace  keeps  the 
heart  in  afliction.     It  is  a  pledge  of  the  special 

*  Phil.  iv.  7. 


CONSOLATIO.  19 

love  of  God  to  the  soul;  and  as  such  it  begets 
confidence  in  Him,  so  that  the  soul  can  stay 
itself  on  his  pomises,  and  encourages  itself  in 
his  faithfulness,  and  look  to  his  care  and  power 
for  a  happy  issue  out  of  all  its  troubles.^  It 
both  begets  hope  and  strengthens  hope ;  and  he 
who  is  going  full  of  hope  to  heaven,  is  not  easily 
shaken  or  depressed.  With  a  crown  of  life  before 
him,  he  feels  that  he  can  afford  to  bear  the  light 
affliction  of  the  way  that  leads  to  it.  Besides,  it 
leaves  us  something  to  fall  back  on,  when  other 
props,  and  refuges,  and  consolations,  are  with- 
drawn. Let  a  worldly  man  lose  his  earthly  com- 
forts, and  he  has  lost  his  all ;  but  let  a  man  of 
God  lose  what  he  may,  his  main  support,  his  chief 
treasure  is  yet  safe.  Put  this  peace  into  his  heart, 
and  then  place  him  where  you  will, —  on  the  bed 
of  sickness,  in  the  house  of  mourning,  by  the 
grave  of  his  best,  and  dearest,  and  only  friend; 
strike  him  where  you  may,  and  how  you  may,  he 
can  bear  the  blow.  He  grieves,  grieves  perhaps 
more  than  other  men ;  for  his  religion  has  enlarg- 
ed his  powers  of  suffering,  it  has  extended  his 
view,  it  has  deepened  his  feelings  and  refined  his 
heart :  but  he  is  not  moved ;  no  practical,  no 
abiding  impression  is  made  on  him.  He  may 
weep  for  an  hour,  but  he  will  soon  take  up  the 

' "  Tbou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace,  whose  mind  is  stayed  on 
Thee,  because  he  trusteth  in  Thee,"— Isaiah,  xxvi.  3. 


CONSOLATIO. 


language  of  the  destitute  Paul,  and  say,  "  I  have 
all,  and  abound ;  I  am  full.  None  of  these  things 
move  me ;  nay,  in  all  these  things  I  am  more  than 
conqueror,  through  him  that  loved  me." 


Reasons,  why  God  removes  earthly  idols. 

The  comfort  that  most  delights  us,  is  generally 
the  first  to  perish  ;  the  mercies  we  lose  the  soonest 
are  those  we  love  the  best.  This  is  not  the  mere 
language  of  sentiment  or  poetry;  it  is  the  testi- 
mony of  fact.  When  have  we  ever  put  the  crea- 
ture in  God's  place,  given  it  that  room  in  our  soul 
which  He  ought  to  occupy,  but  God  has  either 
removed  it,  or  embittered  it,  or  put  an  end  to  it? 
Many  of  our  blessings  have  we  lost  by  loving 
them  too  well.  We  have  slain  them  by  setting 
too  great  a  value  on  them,  and  taking  our  rest  in 
them.  There  is  not  a  single  earthly  good  that 
will  bear  man's  hand  when  man  firmly  grasps  it. 
His  touch  withers  and  destroys  every  thing.  And 
oh,  what  a  mercy  for  man  that  it  is  so!  It  is  in 
this  way  that  a  forgotten  God  recalls  our  wander- 
ing affections  to  Himself.  He  lays  waste  the 
enthroned  creature,  that  He  may  once  again 
enthrone  Himself :  He  breaks  the  cistern,  not 
that  we  may  be  left  parched  and  fainting  in  the 


CONSOLATIO.  21 

wilderness  of  life,  but  go  and  satisfy  our  thirsting 
souls  once  again  from  the  everlasting  spring:  He 
crushes  the  reed,  but  He  substitutes  for  it  a  rock  : 
He  puts  far  away  from  us  "lover  and  friend," 
with  all  the  unutterable  sweetness  of  their  af- 
fection, and  the  tenderness  of  their  love  ;  but 
what  does  He  substitute  ?  Himself  ;  the  intense, 
unfathomable  love  of  his  own  infinite  mind, 
the  presence  of  Christ,  and  communion  with 
Heaven. 


The  lot  of  all  God's  saints  found,  ly  experience.^  to  he 
the  same. 

It  is  written,  that  "  through  much  tribulation 
we  must  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God."  God 
has  all  things  in  his  own  hands.  He  can  spare. 
He  can  inflict :  He  often  spares,  (may  He  spare 
us  still!)  but  He  often  tries  us:  in  one  way  or 
another  He  tries  every  one.  At  some  time  or  other 
of  tlie  life  of  every  one,  there  is  pain,  and  sorrow, 
and  trouble.  So  it  is;  and  the  sooner,  perhaps, 
we  can  look  upon  it  as  a  law  of  our  Christian  con- 
dition, the  better.  One  generation  comes,  and  then 
another.  They  issue  forth  and  succeed  like  leaves 
in  spring,  and  in  all  this,  law  is  observable. 
They  are  tried,  and  then  they  triumph  ;  they  are 


Bft  CONSOLATIO. 

humbled,  and  then  tliey  are  exalted;  they  over- 
come the  world,  and  then  they  sit  down  on  Christ's 
throne.  Hence  St.  Peter,  who.at  first  was  in  such 
amazement  and  trouble  at  his  Lord's  afflictions, 
bids  us  not  look  on  suffering  as  a  strange  thing, 
"as  though  some  strange  thing  happened  unto  us, 
but  rejoice,  inasmuch  as  we  are  partakers  of  Christ's 
sufferings;  that  when  his  glory  shall  be  revealed 
we  may  be  glad  also  with  exceeding  joy."  Again, 
St.  Paul  says,  "  We  glory  in  tribulations,  knowing 
that  tribulation  worketh  patience."  And  again, 
"  If  so  be  that  we  suffer  with  him,  that  we  may  be 
also  glorified  together."  And  again,  "  If  we  suffer, 
we  shall  also  reign  with  him."  And  St.  John, 
"  The  world  knoweth  us  not,  because  it  knew  him 
not.  We  know  that  when  he  shall  appear,  we 
shall  be  like  him,  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is." 
What  is  here  said  of  persecution,  will  apply  of 
course  to  all  trials,  and  much  more  to  those  lesser 
trials,  which  are  the  utmost  that  Christians  have 
to  endure  now.  Yet  I  suppose  it  is  a  long  time 
before  any  one  of  us  recognizes  and  understands, 
that  his  own  state  on  earth  is,  in  one  shape  or 
other,  a  state  of  trial  and  sorrow  ;  and  that  if  he 
has  intervals  of  external  peace,  this  is  all  gain, 
and  much  more  than  he  has  any  right  to  expect. 

But  how  different  must  the  state  of  the  Church 
appear  to  beings  who  contemplate  it  as  a  whole, 
who  have  contemplated  it  for  ages,  as  the  angels ! 


CONSOLATIO.  23 

We  know  what  experience  does  for  us  in  this 
world.  Men  get  to  see  and  understand  the  course 
of  things,  and  by  what  rules  it  proceeds;  and  they 
can  foretel  what  will  happen,  and  they  are  not 
surprised  at  what  does  happen.  They  take  the 
history  of  things  as  a  matter  of  course.  They  are 
not  startled  that  things  happen  in  one  way,  not  in 
another ;  it  is  the  rule.  Night  comes  after  day, 
summer  after  winter ;  cold,  frost,  and  snow,  in 
their  season.  Certain  illnesses  have  their  ap- 
pointed times,  or  visit  at  certain  ages.  All  things 
go  through  a  process  ;  they  have  a  beginning  and 
an  end.  Grown  men  know  this,  but  it  is  otherwise 
with  children.  To  them  every  thing  that  happens 
is  strange  and  surprising.  They  by  turns  feel 
wonder,  admiration,  or  fear,  at  any  thing  that 
happens ;  they  do  not  know  whether  it  will  hap- 
pen again  or  not ;  and  they  know  nothing  of  the 
regular  operation  of  causes,  or  the  connection  of 
those  effects  which  result  from  one  and  the  same. 
And  so,  too,  as  regards  the  state  of  our  souls  under 
the  covenant  of  mercy  :  the  heavenly  hosts,  who 
•  see  what  is  going  on  upon  earth,  well  understand, 
even  from  having  seen  it  before,  what  is  the  course 
of  a  soul  travelling  from  hell  to  heaven.  They 
have  seen,  again  and  again,  in  numberless  in- 
stances, that  suffering  is  the  path  to  peace;  that 
they  that  sow  in  tears  shall  reap  in  joy  ;  and  that 
what  was  true  of  Christ,  is  fulfilled  in  a  measure 


24  CONSOLATIO. 

in  his  followers.  Let  us  try  to  accustom  ourselves 
to  this  view  of  the  subject.  The  whole  Church, 
all  elect  souls,  each  in  its  turn,  is  called  to  this 
necessary  work.  Once  it  was  the  turn  of  others, 
and  now  it  is  our  turn.  Once  it  was  the  Apostles' 
turn.  It  was  St.  Paul's  turn  once.  He  had  all 
cares  on  him  at  once ;  covered  from  head  to  foot 
with  cares,  as  Job  with  sores ;  and,  as  if  all  this 
was  not  enough,  he  had  a  thorn  in  the  flesh  added, 
some  personal  discomfort  ever  with  him.  Yet  he 
did  his  part  well;  he  was  as  a  strong  and  bold 
wrestler  in  his  day,  and  at  the  close  of  it  he  was 
able  to  say,  "I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have 
finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith."  And 
after  him  the  excellent  of  the  earth,  the  white- 
robed  army  of  martyrs,  and  the  cheerful  company 
of  confessors,  each  in  his  turn,  each  in  his  day, 
likewise  played  the  man.  And  so,  down  to  this 
very  time,  when  faith  has  well  nigh  failed,  first 
one  and  then  another  have  been  called  out  to  ex- 
hibit before  the  Great  King.  It  is  as  though  all 
of  us  were  allowed  to  stand  round  his  throne  at 
once,  and  He  called  out  one,  first  this  man,  and 
then  that,  to  take  up  the  chaunt  by  himself,  each 
in  his  turn  having  to  repeat  the  melody  which  his 
brethren  have  before  gone  through ;  or  as  if  it  were 
some  trial  of  strength  or  agility,  and  while  the  ring 
of  bystanders  beheld  and  applauded,  we  in  suc- 
cession, one  by  one,  were  actors  in  the  pageant. 


CONSOLATIO.  25 

Such  is  our  state ;  angels  are  looking  on,  Christ 
has  gone  before.  Christ  has  given  us  an  example 
that  we  may  follow  his  steps.  He  went  through 
far  more  than  we  can  be  called  to  suffer ;  our 
brethren  have  gone  through  much  more,  and  they 
seem  to  encourage  us  by  their  success,  and  to 
sympathize  in, our  essay:  now  it  is  our  turn;  and 
all  ministering  spirits  keep  silence  and  look  on. 

Oh!  let  not  your  foot  slip,  or  your  eye  be  false, 
or  your  ear  dull,  or  your  attention  flagging  !  Be 
not  dispirited,  be  not  afraid;  keep  a  good  heart ;  be 
bold,  draw  not  back ;  you  will  be  carried  through. 
Whatever  troubles  come  on  you,  of  mind,  body, 
or  estate,  from  within  or  from  without,  from  chance 
or  from  intent,  from  friends  or  foes — whatever  your 
troubles  be,  though  you  be  lonely,  O  children  of  a 
Heavenly  Father,  be  not  afraid!  quit  you  like 
men  in  your  day !  and,  when  it  is  over,  Christ 
will  receive  you  to  Himself,  and  your  heart  shall 
rejoice,  and  your  joy  no  man  taketh  from  you. 
Christ  is  already  in  that  place  of  peace  which  is 
all  in  all.  He  is  on  the  right  hand  of  God.  He  is 
hidden  in  the  brightness  of  the  radiance  which 
issues  from  the  everlasting  throne.  He  is  in  the 
very  abyss  of  peace,  where  there  is  no  voice  of 
tumult  or  distress,  but  a  deep  stillness  —  stillness, 
that  greatest  of  all  goods  which  we  can  fancy, 
that  most  perfect  of  joys,  the  utter,  profound,  in- 
eftable  tranquillity  of  the  Divine  Essence.    He  has 


38  CONSOLATIO. 

entered  into  his  rest.  Oh !  how  great  a  good  will 
it  be,  if,  when  this  troublesome  life  is  over,  we  in 
our  turn  also  enter  into  that  same  rest !  if  the  time 
shall  one  day  come,  when  we  shall  enter  into  his 
tabernacle  above,  and  hide  ourselves  under  the 
shadow  of  his  wings  ;  if  we  shall  be  among  the 
number  of  those  blessed  dead,  who  die  in  the  Lord, 
and  rest  from  their  labors !  Here  we  are  tossing 
on  the  sea,  and  the  wind  is  contrary.  All  through 
the  day  we  are  tried  and  tempted  in  various 
ways^  we  cannot  think,  speak,  or  act,  but  infir- 
mity and  sin  are  at  hand.  But  in  the  unseen 
world,  where  Christ  has  entered,  all  is  peace. 
There  is  the  eternal  throne,  and  a  rainbow  round 
about  it,  like  unto  an  emerald.^  "  There  is  no  more 
death,  neither  sorrow  nor  crying,  neither  any  more 
pain ;  for  the  former  things  have  passed  away." 
Nor  any  more  sin,  nor  any  more  guilt ;  no  more 
remorse,  no  more  punishment,  no  more  penitence, 
no  more  trial ;  no  infirmity  to  depress  us,  no  affec- 
tion to  mislead  us,  no  passion  to  transport  us,  no 
prejudice  to  blind  us;  no  sloth,  no  pride,  no  envy, 
no  strife ;  but  the  light  of  God's  countenance,  and 
a  pure  river  of  water  of  life,  clear  as  crystal,  pro- 
ceeding out  of  the  throne.  That  is  our  home ;  here 
we  are  but  on  pilgrimage,  and  Christ  is  calUng  us 
home.     He  calls  us  to  his  many  mansions  which 

'  Rev.  iv.  3. 


CONSOLATIO.  '  27 

He  has  prepared  ;  and  the  Spirit  and  the  Bride  call 
us  too,  and  all  things  will  be  ready  for  us  by  the 
time  of  our  coming.  "  Seeing  then  that  we  have  a 
great  High  Priest  that  is  passed  into  the  heavens, 
Jesus  the  Son  of  God,  let  us  hold  fast  our  profes- 
sion ;"  seeing  that  we  have  "  so  great  a  cloud  of 
witnesses,  let  us  lay  aside  every  weight,"  "  let  us 
labor  to  enter  into  our  rest;"  "  let  us  come  boldly 
unto  the  throne  of  grace,  that  we  may  obtain 
mercy,  and  find  grace  to  help  in  time  of  need." 


Light  affliction  worketh  glory. 

"  Our  light  afiliction,  which  is  but  for  a  moment, 
worketh  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal 
weight  of  glory."  ^  Methinks  this  consideration 
alone  should  be  so  effectual  to  teach  us  patience, 
that  we  should  scarce  have  patience  to  hear  any 
more  !  Shall  our  glory  superabound,  as  our  suf- 
ferings have  abounded  1  Shall  our  eternal  refresh- 
ings be  measured  out  to  us  by  the  cup  of  afflic- 
tions we  have  drunk  of?  Doth  God  beat  and 
hammer  us,  only  to  make  us  vessels  unto  honor? 
Shall  all  sorrow  and  sighing  flee  away,  and  ever- 
lasting joy  be  upon  our  heads?  Wherefore,  then, 
thy  fretting  and  fuming,  O  Christian  1    Wherefore 

» 2  Cor.  iv.  17. 


28  CONSOLATIO. 

complain  because  God  taketh  a  course  to  make 
thee  too  glorious  ?  Doth  God  do  thee  an  injury 
to  fit  thee  for  a  higher  place  in  heaven  than  thou 
carest  to  possess?  Thy  impatience  can  free  thee 
from  no  other  weight  but  owe,  and  that  is  "  an  ex- 
ceeding and  eternal  weight  of  glory." 


How  to  commit  our  souls  unto  God. 

"  Wherefore  let  them  that  suffer  according  to 
the  will  of  God,  commit  the  keeping  of  their  souls 
to  him  in  well-doing,  as  unto  a  faithful  Creator."  ^ 
Nothing  doth  so  establish  the  mind  amidst  the 
rollings  and  turbulence  of  present  things,  as  both 
a  look  above  them,  and  a  look  beyond  them ; 
above  them  to  the  steady  and  good  hand  by  which 
they  are  ruled,  and  beyond  them  to  the  sweet  and 
beautiful  end  to  which  by  that  hand  they  shall  be 
brought. 

If  men  would  have  inward  peace  amidst  out- 
ward trouble,  they  must  walk  by  the  rule  of  peace, 
and  keep  strictly  to  it.  If  you  would  commit 
your  soul  to  the  keeping  of  God,  know  that  He  is 
a  holy  God ;  and  an  unholy  soul  that  walks  in 
any  way  of  wickedness,  whether  known  or  se- 
cret, is  no  fit  commodity  to  put  into  his  pure  hand 
to  keep. 

M  Peter  iv.  19. 


CONSOLATIO.  29 

You  that  would  have  safety  in  God  in  evil  times, 
beware  of  evil  ways,  for  in  these  it  cannot  be.  If 
you  will  be  safe  in  Him,  you  must  stay  with  Him, 
and  in  all  your  ways  keep  within  Him  "  as  your 
fortress."  Now,  in  the  ways  of  sin  you  run  out 
from  Him. 

Study  pure  and  holy  walking,  if  you  would 
have  your  confidence  firm,  and  have  boldness  and 
joy  in  God.  You  will  find  that  a  little  sin  will 
shake  your  trust,  and  disturb  your  peace,  more 
than  the  greatest  sufferings :  yea,  in  those  suffer- 
ings your  assurance  and  joy  in  God  will  grow  and 
abound  most  if  sin  be  kept  out.  All  the  winds 
which  blow  about  the  earth  from  all  points,  stir  it 
not ;  only  that  within  the  bowels  of  it,  makes  the 
earth  quake.  I  do  not  mean  that  for  infirmities 
a  Cllristian  ought  to  be  discouraged.  But  take 
heed  of  walking  in  any  way  of  sin,  for  that  will 
unsettle  thy  confidence.  Innocency  and  holy 
walking  make  the  soul  of  a  sound  constitution, 
which  the  counterblasts  of  affliction  wear  not  out, 
nor  alter.  Sin  makes  it  so  sickly  and  crazy,  that 
it  can  endure  nothing.  Therefore,  study  to  keep 
your  consciences  pure,  and  they  shall  be  peaceable ; 
yea,  in  the  worst  times  commonly  most  peaceable, 
and  best  furnished  with  spiritual  confidence  and 
comfort. 

Faith  rolls  the  soul  over  on  God,  ventures  it 
into  his  hand,   and  rests  satisfied  concerning  it, 


30  CONSOLATIO. 

being  there.    There  is  no  way  but  this  to  be  quiet 
within,  to  be  impregnable  and  immovable  in  all 
assaults,  and  fixed  in  all  changes,  believing  in  his 
free  love.     Therefore,  be  persuaded  to  resolve  on 
that;  not  doubting  and  disputing.  Whether  shall- 
I  believe,  or  not?    Shall  I  think  He  will  sufierme 
to  lay  my  soul  upon  Him,  to  keep  so  unworthy, 
so  guilty  a  soul  1    Were  it  not  presumption  ?   Oh ! 
what  sayest  thou?    Why  dost  thou  thus  dishonor 
Him,  and  disquiet  thyself?     If  thou  hast  a  pur- 
pose to  walk  in  any  way  of  wickedness,  indeed 
thou  art  not  for  Him ;  yea,  thou  comest  not  near 
Him  to  give  Him  thy  soul.     But  wouldst  thou 
have  it  delivered  from  sin  rather  than  from  trouble; 
yea,  rather  from  hell?   Is  that  the  chief  safety  thou 
seekest,  to  be  kept  from  iniquity,  from  thine  own 
iniquity,  thy  beloved  sins?     Dost  thou  desire  to 
dwell  in  Him,  and  walk  with  Him?   Then,  what- 
soever be  thy  guiltiness  and  unworthiness,  come 
forward,  and  give  Him  thy  soul  to  keep.     If  He 
should  seem  to  refuse  it,  press  it  on  Him.     If  He 
stretch  not  forth  his  hand,  lay  it  down  at  his  foot, 
and  leave  it  there,  and  resolve  not  to  take  it  back. 
Say,  Lord,  Thou  hast  made  us  these  souls.  Thou 
callest  for  them  again  to  be  committed  to  Thee  : 
here  is  one.     It  is  unworthy,  but  what  soul  is  not 
so?    It  is  most  unworthy,  but  therein  will  the 
riches  of  thy  grace  appear  most  in  receiving  it. 
And  thus  leave  it  with  Him,  and  know  He  will 
make  thee  a  good  account  of  it. 


CONSOLATIO.  31 

There  are  in  the  words,  other  two  grounds  of 
quietness  of  spirit  in  sufferings.  It  is  according  to 
the  will  of  God.  The  beheving  soul,  subjected 
and  levelled  to  that  will,  complying  with  his  good 
pleasure  in  all,  cannot  have  a  more  powerful  per- 
suasive than  this,  that  all  is  ordered  by  his  will. 
This  settled  in  the  heart  would  settle  it  much,  and 
make  it  even  in  all  things  ;  not  only  to  know,  but 
wisely  and  deeply  to  consider  that  it  is  thus,  that 
all  is  measured  in  heaven,  every  drachm  of  thy 
troubles  weighed  by  that  skilful  hand  which  doth 
all  things  by  weight,  number,  and  measure. 

Consider  God  as  thy  Father,  who  hath  taken 
special  charge  of  thee,  and  of  thy  soul;  thou 
hast  given  it  to  Him,  and  He  hath  received  it. 
And  upon  this  consideration,  study  to  follow  his 
will  in  all,  to  have  no  will  but  his.  This  is  thy 
duty  and  thy  wisdom.  Nothing  is  gained  by 
spurning  and  struggling,  but  to  hurt  and  vex  thy- 
self; but  by  complying,  all  is  gained  ;  sweet  peace. 
It  is  the  very  secret,  the  mystery  of  solid  peace 
within,  to  resign  all  to  his  will,  to  be  disposed  of 
at  his  pleasure,  without  the  least  contrary  thought. 
And  thus,  like  two-faced  pictures,  those  sufferings 
and  troubles,  and  whatsoever  else,  while  beheld 
on  the  one  side  as  painful  to  the  flesh,  hath  an  un- 
pleasant visage;  yet,  |o  about  a  little,  and  look 
upon  it  as  thy  Father's  will,  and  then  it  is  smiling, 
beautiful,  and  lovely.     This  I  would  recommend 


as  CONSOLATIO. 

to  you,  not  only  for  temporals,  as  easier  there,  but 
in  spiritual  thirtgs,  your  comforts  and  sensible  en- 
largements, to  love  all  that  He  does.  It  is  the  sum 
of  Christianity  to  have  thy  will  crucified,  and  the 
will  of  thy  Lord  thy  only  desire.  Whether  joy  or 
sorrow,  sickness  or  health,  life  or  death,  in  all,  in. 
all,  "  Thy  will  be  done." 

The  other  ground  of  quietness  is  contained  in 
the  first  word,  which  looks  back  on  the  foregoing 
discourse,  "Wherefore"  —  what?  Seeing  that 
your  reproachings  and  sufferings  are  not  endless, 
yea,  that  they  are  short,  they  shall  end,  quickly 
end,  and  end  in  glory,  be  not  troubled  about  them; 
overlook  them.  The  eye  of  faith  will  do  it.  A 
moment  gone,  and  what  are  they?  This  is  the 
great  cause  of  our  disquietness  in  present  troubles 
and  griefs :  we  forget  their  end.  We  are  affected 
by  our  condition  in  this  present  life,  as  if  it  were 
all,  and  it  is  nothing.  Oh,  how  quickly  shall  all 
the  enjoyments  and  all  the  sufferings  of  this  life 
pass  away,  and  be  as  if  they  had  not  been  ! 


God's  work  in  renewal  and  sanctification  necessarily 
slow. 

Our  first  object,  even  in  conversion,  is  to  feel 
rich ;  but  God's  design  is  to  make  us  feel  poor, 


CONSOLATIO.  33 

that  we  may  know  how  to  value  our  ultimate  and 
eternal  inheritance  in  Him.  He  might  break  at 
once  our  chains,  and  set  us  free;  He  might  at  once 
exchange  the  garments  of  our  defilement  for  the 
robes  of  celestial  purity.  He  might  in  one  instant 
swalloiD  up  death  in  victory,  and  place  us  with 
healed  heart  and  diademed  brow  before  the  ever- 
lasting throne.  Perhaps,  in  some  cases,  He  has 
done  this ;  for  who  shall  limit  the  actings  of  his 
power?  But  this  is  not  the  apparent  process  of 
his  cure,  or  the  mode  of  his  munificence.  This 
rapidity  of  salvation  would  destroy  the  exercise  of 
moral  discipline,  would  draw  a  veil  over  many  a 
beautiful  manifestation  of  the  Divine  character, 
and  would  reveal  his  tenderness,  his  patience,  and 
his  fidelity,  rather  as  inscriptions  to  be  read,  than 
as  events  to  be  seen.  It  is  by  the  slow  progress  of 
spiritual  character,  by  the  sad  resistance  of  our 
evil  to  his  good,  by  the  mistakes,  and  falls,  and 
agonies  which  we  experience,  and  which  He  miti- 
gates, and  repairs,  and  counteracts ;  it  is  by  bitter 
self-knowledge,  acquired  not  by  theory  and  art, 
but  by  fact,  and  shame,  and  sorrow ;  it  is  by  ten 
thousand  proofs  of  long-suffering,  proofs  exhibited 
in  the  very  face  and  contrast  of  our  rebellion,  fret- 
fulness,  and  haste ;  it  is  by  these  things  that  He 
makes  us  wise,  in  order  that  at  last  He  may  make 
us  happy;  in  order  that  with  deep  conviction  we 
may  know  ourselves  in  Him,  and  be  prepared 
3 


91-  CONSOLATIO. 

with  accents,  otherwise  to  man  unspeakable,  to 
exclaim  in  higher  and  holier  regions  than  these, 
"  Unto  Him  that  hath  loved  us,  and  washed  us 
from  our  sins  in  His  own  blood,  to  Him  be  glory, 
and  blessing,  and  honor,  and  dominion,  henceforth 
and  for  ever." 


Jesus  Christ,  the  light  to  see  our  sorrows  by,  and  the 
companion  to  be  with  lis  when  they  come. 

On  Jesus  may  our  affections  fix ;  on  Him,  the 
Healer,  the  Restorer  of  humanity,  may  our  hearts 
learn  to  lean  the  secret  burden  of  their  being;  and 
this  not  in  words  only,  in  which  we  are  all  ready 
enough  to  do  so,  but  in  very  deed  and  truth. 

If  earthly  trouble  is  upon  us,  let  us  fly  to  Him; 
let  us  beware  of  all  those  who  would  cheer  us 
without  Him;  let  us  be  always  sure  that  the  poi- 
son of  the  asp  is  hidden  under  their  softest  and 
most  enticing  words.  Do  they  profess  to  put  away 
from  fis  our  heavy  thoughts  ?  Let  us  beware, 
lest  instead  of  this,  they  rob  us  of  the  very  reality 
of  our  lives.  False  friends,  indeed,  are  all  such  ; , 
for  they  would  keep  us  from  the  only  source  of 
true  peace;  they  would  mbck  our  thirsty  spirits, 
as  we  cross,  parched  and  weary,  the  burning  sands 


CONSOLATIO.  35 

of  this  desert  world,  with  the  lying  promise  of  un- 
real water.  From  all  such  comforters,  then,  let  us 
turn  away.  Let  us  beware  of  every  thing,  which 
under  any  promise  would  take  us  out  of  ourselves, 
and  separate  us  from  God.  At  such  seasons,  let 
us  even  keep  ourselves  as  free  as  may  be  from 
necessary  business;  let  us  strive  to  hush  our  spi- 
rits into  silence,  that  there  may  be  nothing  to 
intercept  that  voice  which  will  speak  to  us  if  we 
wait  for  it ;  let  us  fear  lest  we  be  led  to  seek  for 
any  other  shelter  of  our  spirits  short  of  Him  their 
Lord,  that  so  we  may  find  ouselves  to  be  alone 
with  Him,  that  He  may  frame  and  fashion  us, 
may  mould  our  hearts  as  He  will,  may  purify, 
and  enlighten,  and  soften,  and  strengthen,  and 
deepen  them  by  his  presence  in  the  cloud  and 
mystery  of  sorrow.  Let  us  remember  always  the 
love  which  is  smiting  us,  nor  dare  to  look  at  our 
griefs  but  in  the  light  of  His  presence,  lest  looking 
at  them  alone  we  be  soured  by  their  sharpness,  or 
become  fretful,  or  dull,  or  even  desperate,  and  so 
reprobate.  Let  us  cast  ourselves  upon  the  assu- 
rance of  His  love,  even  though  it  bear  the  sem- 
blance of  the  flame-breath  of  the  furnace;  and 
walk  humbly  with  Him,  lest  we  mar  or  hinder 
the  blessed  purpose  of  His  mercy  towards  us. 


CONSOLATIO. 


Jesus,  the  source  and  object  of  life. 

Under  the  expression,  "  To  me  to  live  is  Christ," 
St.  Paul  must  evidently  have  meant,  first,  that 
Christ  was  the  source  of  new  life  to  him;  and 
secondly,  that  He  was  the  object  for  which  he 
lived.  But  this  was  not  all.  Christ  was  also  his 
joy,  his  hope,  his  comfort.  We  think  far  too  little 
of  the  sources  of  happiness  which  are  in  Him  ! 
The  Apostle  had  formerly  drawn  his  earthly  satis- 
factions, and  we  may  say,  his  heavenly  satisfac- 
tions, (for  He  did  seek  heaven  after  the  manner 
of  a  proud  and  diligent  Pharisee,)  from  other 
sources.  Honor,  favor,  a  high  place,  a  famous 
reputation,  the  applause  of  the  great,  and  the 
society  of  the  learned,  these  had  been  the  objects 
for  which  he  lived.  To  obtain  these  objects,  he 
had  set  off  from  Jerusalem  to  Damascus,  "  breath- 
ing out  threatenings  and  slaughter  against  the 
disciples  of  Christ."  Who,  (he  expected  to  hear 
it  said,)  who  so  zealous  as  Saul  for  the  traditions 
of  the  fathers?  who  so  mighty  against  the  Cru- 
cified 7  Short  expectation  of  sad  boast !  —  He  is 
changed  —  that  very  Crucified  has  changed  him  ! 
he  is  a  meek  disciple  of  that  lowly,  lofty  Saviour ! 
And  now  that  despised  One  is  all  his  joy :  he  sees 
Him,  bows  before  Him,  adores  Him,  loves  Him, 
finds  all  his  happiness  in  His  smile,  all  his  conso- 


CONSOLATIO.  87 

lation  in  His  corapanionship.  He  finds  now  that 
"  to  live  is  Christ,"  for  enjoyment,  as  well  as  for 
exertion.  The  summer  springs  of  earth's  boasted 
joys,  its  pomp,  its  learning,  its  ambition,  its  roses 
of  pleasure,  its  palm  of  victory,  are  all  faded  and 
dry ;  the  sight  of  Jesns  has  destroyed  their  charms ; 
he  "counts  all  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency 
of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  his  Lord."  Let 
none  think  lightly  of  this  branch  of  the  subject ! 
Are  the  consolations  of  God  small  or  few  7  Is  the 
fellowship  of  the  Holy  Ghost  unsatisfying?  Is 
the  smile  of  Jesus,  the  favor  of  our  great  High 
Priest,  like  the  world's  love  1  is  it  cold  and  uncer- 
tain like  a  winter's  sun  1  Nay,  rather,  we  cannot 
too  highly  value  it !  There  is  no  sorrow  which 
it  cannot  heal,  no  burden  which  it  cannot  well 
enable  us  to  bear,  no  loss  which  it  cannot  supply. 
If  there  be  any  here  bowed  down  by  suflfering, 
any  who  mourn  over  a  brother,  or  husband,  or 
wife,  or  child,  called  away  by  God,  and  lying  in 
the  cold  grave,  —  is  Jesus  nigh  ?  He  caii  turn 
your  loss  to  gain.  He  has  done  so  in  multitudes 
of  cases.  He  that  can  make  the  desert  bloom,  can 
make  the  church-yard  smik  !  No  end,  brethren 
beloved  in  the  Lord,  no  end  to  the  riches  of  His 
grace,  or  to  the  consolations  of  His  presence  !  If 
a  mourner  can  say,  "  to  me  to  live  is  Christ,"  he 
has  attained  the  object  of  his  affliction  ;  God's 
purpose  is  so  far  accomplished  ;  he  stands  on  the 


88  CONSOLATIO. 

same  ground  with  the  persecuted  Apostle ;  nay 
more,  he  stands  with  Jesus  Himself,  and  in  such 
presence  he  must  be  blessed.  It  is  true  that 
natural  tears  will  flow ;  Christianity  does  not  seal 
up  the  fountains  of  affection,  nay,  it  rather  more 
widely  opens  them.  But  while  it  expands,  it 
sanctifies  them.  When  the  Christian  mourns, 
Jesus  mourns  with  him  ;  and  the  very  thought  of 
so  blessed  a  fellow-mourner  is  peace.  Let  us  rest 
therefore  on  this  blessed  assurance,  that  if  there 
be  any  here  who  is  making  Christ  the  object  of 
his  life,  any  who  is  setting  Christ  before  him  in 
his  daily  walk,  Christ  will  make  that  man's  hap- 
piness and  security  his  daily  care.  It  must  be  so. 
He  is  far  better  to  us  than  we  are  to  Him;  and  if 
we  seek  His  glory,  we  cannot  doubt  but  that  He 
will  seek  our  good. 


Death,  the  Christian's  gain. 

"  To  me  to  live  is  Christ,  and  to  die  is  gain."  ^ 
We  cannot  think  of  any  thing  much  more  glorious 
than  an  Apostle's  life,  except  it  be  an  Apostle's 
death.  The  life  of  all  true  Christians  must  be  a 
life  of  much  patient  endurance,  of  much  and  cou- 

-    .     .•>  >Phil.  i.  21. 


CONSOLATIO.  99 

stant  suffering.  We  have  all  need  of  patience ; 
life  is  labor ;  and  labor  with  weak  hands,  and 
with  frail  bodies,  and  corrupted  hearts,  is  always 
more  or  less  burdensome.  We  are  not  like  the 
angels  that  "excel  in  strength;"  we  have  not 
their  speedy  feet,  or  fiery  wings,  or  uncorrupted 
hearts.  We  are  the  painful  tenants  of  polluted 
clay,  weighed  down  with  many  cares,  and  vexed 
and  tried  by  many  temptations.  Even  St.  Paul 
felt  this.  Recounted  up  his  labors,  not  as  if  they 
were  no  labor,  because  he  was  a  converted  man  ; 
labor  and  sorrow  were  still  labor  and  sorrow, 
though  Christ  was  his  fellow-mourner,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  his  fellow-laborer.  He  was  abundant 
in  sorrows  and  in  labors,  "afflictions,  necessities, 
distresses,  stripes,  imprisonments,  tumults,  labors, 
watchings,  fastings."  "  In  weariness  and  pain- 
fulness,  in  watchings  often,  in  hunger  and  thirst, 
in  fastings  often,  in  cold  and  nakedness."  It  is 
not  in  human  nature,  converted  or  unconverted, 
to  love  such  trials  :  it  is  not  in  flesh  and  blood  to 
be  enamored  of  torture,  or  weariness,  or  pain. 
Hence  it  follows,  that  death  is  great  "gain"  to 
all  Christ's  faithful  followers.  It  is  an  escape 
from  daily  burden,  daily  trouble,  daily  corruption. 
"  Oh,  that  I  had  wings  like  a  doje !  "  who  has 
not  often  felt  and  cried  with  David?  "Oh,  that 
I  had  wings  like  a  dove,  then  would  I  flee  away 
and  be  at  rest.     I  would  hasten  my  escape  from 


tM  CONSCLATIO. 

the  windy  storm  and  tempest."  Not  that  we 
ought  to  desire  that  which  God  does  not  give  us. 
We  must  wait  His  pleasure ;  but  while  we  wait 
His  pleasure,  we  ought  to  long  for  the  enjoyment 
of  His  presence.  But  then  this  cannot  be  except 
through  death  ;  and  who  wishes  for  death  1  It  is 
too  true  that  the  number  is  but  small.  To  leave 
this  world,  to  change  our  state  of  being,  to  go 
from  the  comforts  and  enjoyments  of  life,  to  the 
dark  uncertainties  of  that  state  which  is  entered 
through  death ;  to  have  done  with  time,  and  to 
commence  an  awful  eternity;  to  finish  trial  and 
probation,  and  to  stand  at  Christ's  judgment-seat; 
to  be  uncovered,  bare,  naked,  stripped  to  the  very 
heart  and  conscience  of  every  disguise,  and  to 
seem  exactly  what  we  are!  No  wonder  that 
when  such  is  the  character  of  death,  and  such  its 
inevitable  consequences,  so  many  shrink  from  it ! 
It  is  not  many  that  can  say  with  apostolic  confi- 
dence, "  To  me  to  die  is  gain."  But  why  not  7 
Why  should  they  not  thus  feel  ?  It  is  because 
they  cannot  say,  "To  me  to  live  is  Christ !  "  It 
is  because  they  are  not  living  wholly  to  Him,  that 
they  dare  not  lay  down  their  weary  forms  upon 
the  bed  of  death,  as  the  tired  laborer,  after  a  day 
of  toil,  sinks  §^adly  on  his  bed  of  repose.  Never- 
theless, death  is  to  the  true  and  faithful  Christian 
immense  gain ;  it  is  the  door  that  lets  us  out  of 
all  suffering,  and  lets  us  into  all  joy  :  there  are 


CONSOLATIO.  41 

no  clouds  or  care  in  that  glorious  world ;  there  is 
no  sin  or  sickness  there ;  there  are  no  bad  men, 
no  tempting  spirits,  no  fightings  without,  or  fears 
within;  no  distresses,  labors,  persecutions!  How 
bright,  how  happy  does  that  world  appear  !  To 
have  God  for  our  ever-present  Father;  to  hold 
ineffable  communion  with  Jesus  and  the  Spirit  of 
Love  ;  to  have  angels  and  purified  spirits  for  our 
companions ;  to  talk  with  Abel,  and  Enoch,  and 
Melchisedec  ;  with  Abraham  and  Moses,  and 
Isaiah  and  Daniel,  and  St.  John,  and  St.  Paul, 
and  St.  Peter;  and  with  the  martyrs  and  confes- 
sors of  the  primitive  Church  ;  to  meet  again  those 
blessed  ones  whose  eyes  we  have  closed  in  death, 
and  whose  bodies  we  have  laid  in  the  grave  ;  and 
all  this,  in  a  house  built  of  God,  and  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  unclouded  serenity  —  may  we  not,  in 
contemplation  of  this  joy,  well  exclaim,  "  To  die 
is  gain?"  Yes,  it  is  so  to  the  Christian, — to 
him  whose  "  life  is  Christ ;  "  for,  however  blessed 
his  state  now,  it  shall  be  ten  thousand  times  more 
blessed  then  :  if  the  consolations  of  God  are  not 
small  to  him  now,  they  shall  be  immeasurably 
great  then :  if  he  has  pleasures  now,  "  such  as  eye 
hath  not  seen,"  those  pleasures  shall  be  inconceiv- 
ably increased  when  he  receives  them  into  an 
uncorrupted  heart,  and  enjoys  them  in  a  glorified 
body. 


42  CONSOLATIO. 


Prayers  and  sighs,  the  Christianas  memorial  before 
God. 

''And  he  said  unto  him,  Thy  prayers  and  thine 
alms  are  come  up  for  a  memorial  before  God."^ 
What  a  blessed  thing  to  have  memorials  before 
God !  How  blessed  to  have  something  before 
Him  which  may  put  Him  in  mind  of  us !  We 
often  give  keepsakes  to  our  friends,  that  when 
they  look  on  them  they  may  remember  us.  It 
cheers  our  hearts  in  absence  and  separation  to 
think  that  this  can  be.  It  comforts  our  sad  souls, 
to  think  that  our  friends  are  reminded  of  us. 
How  much  more  should  it  do  so  to  think  that 
God  is  pui  in  mind  of  us,  that  He  remembers  us ! 
High  as  He  sits  above*  us,  throned  above  the 
heavens,  infinitely  great  and  infinitely  glorious, 
yet  such  poor  worms  as  we,  are  not  forgotten ! 
While  He  guides  the  stars  in  their  orbits,  and 
speeds  the  comets  on  their  shining  way.  He  does 
not  forget  one  single  heart  that  "hopes  in  His 
mercy."  "  I  am  poor  and  needy,  yet  the  Lord 
thinketh  upon  me."  Our  memorials  are  all  before 
Him! 

In  these  words  we  have  two  things  laid  down, 
by  which  God  will  remember   us.     The  first  is 

»  Acts  X.  4. 


CONSOLATIO.  43 

prayer.     There  is  jio  true  prayer  thrown  away ; 
there  is  no  true  prayer  forgotten. 

It  is  a  wonderful  thought  how  far  a  prayer  can 
go.  Shoot  up  an  arrow  into  the  sky  ;  it  will  seem 
to  mount  very  high,  but  it  will  soon  fall  back  to 
the  earth ;  its  own  weight  will  be  sufficient  to 
draw  it  down.  Uncage  a  lark  and  let  it  fly  into 
the  air,  let  it  mount  and  sing  till  it  is  almost  out 
of  sight ;  yet  it  cannot  always  rise  ;  the  little 
warbler  will  be  soon  baffled  and  beaten  back  by 
the  winds,  or  it  will  come  to  an  atmosphere  which 
it  cannot  breathe,  and  so  will  sink  down  with 
weary  wing  to  the  earth  again.  The  eagle  may 
soar  skywards ;  it  may  mount  on  its  strong  pin- 
ions, and  tower  far  above  the  snow  mountains ; 
but  its  daring  ascent  will  soon  find  its  limit,  and 
as  certainly  as  the  little  lark,  it  will  return  back 
to  its  nest  in  the  rock.  But  send  up  a  prayer  ! 
send  up  a  true  prayer,  and  nothing  will,  nothing 
can,  draw  it  back  again.  It  will  rise  above  the 
hills,  above  the  clouds,  above  the  stars,  and  pierce 
even  to  the  very  throne  of  God.  The  man  that 
offered  it  remains  below ;  he  is  smiting  on  his 
breast  like  the  poor  publican,  or  in  a  prison  like 
the  chained  Apostle  ;  but  his  prayer  is  rising  high 
and  rapid  on  its  way ;  and  neither  the  stars  in 
their  courses,  nor  the  wandering  winds,  nor  the 
prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  can  prevent  it  from 
reaching  the  heaven  of  its  destination.    Is  this  the 


44  CONSOLATIO. 

case  of  all  prayers?  Yes,  undoubtedly,  of  all 
true  prayers.  Not  of  those  which  are  formal  and 
lifeless  ;  not  of  lip  prayers,  however  beautiful ; 
not  of  all  liturgical  prayers,  however  sublinne;  not 
of  all  litanies,  however  solemn  ;  but  of  all  prayers 
that  are  true,  and  humble,  and  earnest,  and  offer- 
ed up  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  with  faith  in  His  most 
blessed  intercession.  Pause,  then,  and  consider 
the  value  of  prayer.  You  may  sow  your  corn- 
seed,  but  worms  may  destroy  it,  or  moisture  may 
waste  and  injure  it,  and  all  your  expectations  may 
be  disappointed  ;  but  let  your  seed  be  prayer,  and 
let  heaven  be  your  field ;  sow  there  that  precious 
grain,  and  there  shall  be  no  disappointment.  God 
receives  it,  God  guards  it,  God  breathes  upon  it, 
and  in  due  time  it  will  return  to  your  bosom 
again,  with  increase  of  thirty,  or  sixty,  or  even 
an  hundred  fold. 


Things  to  come  are  ours. 

The  Christian's  joy  with  regard  to  "  things 
present "  is  this,  that  he  has  precisely  that  allot- 
ment which  comes  proportioned  by  a  Father's 
wisdom,  and  accompanied  by  the  blessing  of  a 
Father's  love;  and  this  to  the  grateful  heart  of  a 
true  child  of  God,  is  better,  infinitely  better,  than 


CONSOLATIO.  45 

all  the  surfeiting  abundance  of  him  who  could 
cry,  "Soul,  thou  hast  much  goods  laid  up  for 
many  years ;  take  thine  ease,  eat  drink,  and  be 
merry." 

The  Apostle,  however,  in  the  text  (1  Cor.  iii. 
21,  22,  23,)  does  not  limit  the  Christian's  posses- 
sion to  "life  and  things  present,"  but  he  declares 
that  "  death  and  things  to  come"  are  yours. 

This  is  indeed  a  striking  peculiarity  of  the  be- 
liever's lot. 

The  man  of  the  world  may  say,  Things  past 
have  been  mine,  things  present  are  mine ;  but  we 
defy  him  to  add  —  none  but  the  Christian  can 
add  —  the  triumphant  conclusion,  "  Things  to 
come  shall  be  mine."  How  blessed  a  prerogative 
of  every  real  follower  of  God.  How  marked  the 
superiority  of  the  Christian,  Are  you  through 
Christ  a  believer  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ?  and 
do  you  ever  ask,  What  will  the  coming  times  bring 
with  them  ?  How  much  of  moral,  how  much  of 
physical  evil,  how  much  of  spiritual  evil,  lies 
brooding,  dark,  and  lowering,  beneath  their  wings? 
I  know  not,  I  cannot  know,  what  will  happen ; 
but  of  this  I  am  assured,  with  a  certainty  which 
nothing  can  destroy;  that  He  in  whom  I  trust  is 
the  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  end; 
that  He  can  and  will  control  the  last  act  of  His 
providence,  as  surely  and  as  mercifully  as  He  has 
already  done  the  first  acts  of  His  grace;  and  that 


46  CONSOLATIO. 

He,  even  He,  has  declared  that  "  things  to  come" 
are  mine,  arranged  for  my  happiness,  sanctified 
to  my  service,  blessed  to  my  present  and  eternal 
welfare.  Why  then  should  I  despond?  Why 
should  I  even  perplex  myself  7  "  Let  the  potsherds 
strive  with  the  potsherds  of  the  earth  ;  "  "  let  the 
dead  bury  their  dead."  I  will  rest  calmly  and 
securely  in  the  promises,  and  in  the  power  of  my 
Almighty  Saviour,  for  "all  power  is  given  unto 
Him  in  heaven  and  in  earth ;  "  and  what  He  has 
said,  He  can,  and  therefore  He  will,  assuredly, 
bring  to  pass ;  and  overrule  the  mightiest  events 
which  can  ever  happen  in  the  world,  for  the  bene- 
fit even  of  me,  the  poorest  and  most  insignificant 
of  His  children.  Things  past  have  not  injured  me,-^ 
things  present  do  not  injure  me,  things  to  come 
cannot  injure  me ;  this  is  the  cool  and  dispassion- 
ate conviction  of  my  soul.  How  unspeakably 
great  are  the  privileges,  how  strong  therefore 
should  be  the  confidence  of  the  Christian  ! 

Are  any  among  you,  however,  disposed  to  add, 
It  is  true,  for  I  believe  my  Redeemer's  promises, 
things  present  and  things  to  come,  however  threat- 
ening and  disastrous,  are,  and  by  the  wonderful 
workings  of  his  providence  and  grace,  shall  be 
my  own ;  but  there  is  yet  one  enemy  I  dare  not 
face,  there  is  one  hour  for  which  my  faithless 
heart  still  quakes :  that  hour  is  the  hour  which 
shall  for  ever  call  me  hence,  —  that  enemy  is  death. 


CONSOLATIO.  47 

Be  of  good  courage,  brethren  ;  this  constant  infir- 
mity of  our  nature  has  not  been  forgotten  in  pro- 
mised privileges.     It  might  have  been  sufficient 
to  have  included  it  in  the  "  all  things"  which  are 
ours ;  it  might  have  contented  our  hearts  to  know 
and  to   feel  that  if  "things  to  come"  be  ours, 
death    must    necessarily   be   one,    and   therefore 
needed  no  separate  enumeration;  but  "He,  who 
came"  expressly  "to  destroy  him  that  had  the 
power  of  death,  and  deliver  them  who,  through 
fear  of  death,  were  all  their  lifetime   subject  to 
bondage,"  has  not  failed  to    speak,  even  to  our 
very  weakness  and  our  fears,  upon  this  deeply 
interesting  point.     He  tells  us  distinctly,  by  the 
mouth  of  this  holy  Apostle,  that  even  "death"  is 
ours  ;  ours  not  indeed  to  escape  from,  (that  would 
be  a  faithless  and  a  coward  wish,)  but  ours  to 
meet,  ours  to  oppose,  and  ours  to  conquer,  in  the 
strength  and  through  the  merits  of  our  Redeemer. 
Yes,  the  time  must  arrive  when  what  has  hap- 
pened to  all  shall  happen  to  you.     "  When  the 
grasshopper  shall  be  a  burden,  and  desire  shall 
'  fail ;  when  the  silver  cord  shall  be  loosed,  and  the 
golden  bowl  be  broken ;  when  the  dust  shall  re- 
turn to  the  earth  as  it  was,  and  the  spirit  shall 
return  unto  God  who  gave  it."     What  is  not  the 
assurance  worth,  which  can  stand  against  that 
hour    which  shall  be  calm,  when  all  around  are 
agitated ;  peaceful,  when  all  around  are  anxious. 


4§  CONSOLATIO. 

and  enable  you  to  say,  "I  know  whom  I  have 
believed,  and  am  persuaded  that  He  is  able  to 
keep  that  which  I  have  committed  unto  Him 
against  that  day."  "My  flesh  and  my  heart 
faileth ; "  there  is  no  promise  that  they  shall  do 
otherwise,  for  they  are  of  the  earth,  earthy —  "  My 
flesh  and  my  heart  faileth,  but  God  is  the  strength 
of  my  heart,  and  my  portion  for  ever."  Thus, 
through  the  grace  of  your  conquering  Redeemer, 
death  will  be  yours,  its  sting  drawn  out,  its  ter- 
rors quelled,  its  power  for  ever  broken.  And  this 
to  the  faintest  and  weakest  believer  among  you, 
as  certainly  and  unquestionably,  as  to  the  strong- 
est and  most  advanced.  If  you  are  indeed  placed 
upon  a  rock,  though  you  stand  but  a  single  foot 
above  the  highest  limit  of  the  waves,  you  are  as 
secure  as  he  who  stands  ten  thousand  feet  above 
your  head,  and  that  rock  must  fall  before  your 
life  be  perilled.  So  is  it  with  the  Rock  of  ages. 
Whether  life  or  death,  or  things  present,  or  things 
to  come,  all  are  yours,  if  you  are  Christ's,  for 
Christ  is  God's. 


Cleave  to  the  will  of  God,  and  turn  with  it 
constantly,  as  the  weather-cock  does  with  the 
wind. 


CONSOLATIO.  49 

Sanctifying  meanings  of  affliction. 

It  behoves  us  to  treat  suffering,  whether  in  our- 
selves or  others,  in  a  much  more  solemn  way 
than  the  generality  even  of  serious  Christians  are 
wont  to  do.  In  itself  it  were  a  punishment  for 
sin,  oppressive,  hopeless ;  through  God's  mercy 
in  Christ,  it  is  His  healing  medicine,  to  burn  out 
our  wounds,  and.  purify  us  for  His  presence.  All 
are  tokens  of  His  presence ;  the  great  Physician 
of  our  souls,  looking  graciously  upon  our  spots 
and  sores,  checking  our  diseases  ere  they  take 
deep  root,  or  cutting  deeply  and  healthfully  into 
our  very  souls,  if  He  have  compassion  upon  us, 
when  we  have  deeply  offended  Him.  All,  from 
the  most  passing  pain  of  the  body,  to  the  most 
deep-seated  anguish  of  the  soul,  are  messengers 
from  Him :  some  spread  over  life  to  temper  our 
enjoyments,  lest  we  seek  our  joys  here;  some 
following  closely  upon  what  is  wrong;  some 
gradually  thickening  upon  us,  if  we  neglect  the 
first  warnings;  some  coming  suddenly  in  an 
instant,  to  startle  people  out  of  their  lethargy  and 
careless  ways,  and  show  them  that  the  life  which 
they  are  wasting  is  an  earnest  thing;  some  in  the 
natural  order  of  His  Providence,  as  the  loss  of 
parents  and  of  children;  yet  all  manifesting,  if 
we  will  regard  it.  His  fatherly  care,  tempering 
our  cup  with  pain  and  sorrow,  as  He  sees  most 


M  CONSOLATIO. 

needful  for  us :  all,  in  their  degree,  loosening  our 
hold  of  this  life;  all  leading  up  thitherward, 
where  there  shall  be  no  pain;  all  humbling  us, 
as  being  creatures  who  require  it,  and  deserve  far 
more;  all  teaching  us  to  look  into  ourselves,  to 
see  for  what  disease  in  us  this  medicine  has  been 
sent. 

All,  then  —  pain,  sickness,  weariness,  distress, 
languor,  agony  of  mind  and  body,  whether  in 
ourselves  or  others,  is  to  be  treated  reverently, 
seeing  in  it  our  Maker's  hand  passing  over  us, 
fashioning,  by  suffering,  the  imperfect  or  decayed 
substance  of  our  souls.  In  itself,  it  were  the 
earnest  of  hell ;  through  His  mercy  in  Christ,  it 
is  a  purifying  for  heaven.  It  is  the  cross  changed 
from  the  instrument  of  shame,  the  torture  of  male- 
factors, into  the  source  of  life;  it  is  the  cross  ap- 
plied to  us,  washing  away  our  filth  by  the  spirit 
of  judgment,  and  the  spirit  of  burning. 

Every  sorrow  we  meet  with  is  a  billow  on  this 
world's  troublesome  sea,  which  we  must  cross 
upon  the  cross,  to  bear  us  nearer  to  our  home : 
we  may  not  then  remain  where  we  were ;  we  may 
not,  when  God's  "wave  and  storms  have 'gone 
over  us,"  be  what  we  were  before ;  we  may  and 
must  bear  our  parts  in  the  world's  duties,  (but  in 
proportion  to  its  heaviness,  and  the  loudness  of 
God's  warning  voice  in  it,)  not  as  we  did  in  its 
joys ;  each  trouble  is  meant  to  relax  the  world's 


CONSOLATIO.  M 

hold  over  us,  and  our  hold  upon  the  world ;  each 
loss  to  make  us  seek  our  gain  in  heaven  ;  each 
bereavement  to  fix  our  hearts  thither,  whither  we 
hope  the  treasures  lent  us  are  removed ;  each 
chastisement  to  deepen  our  repentance  for  those 
sins  for  which  God  has  so  chastened  us.  Sadder 
far  than  the  sight  of  any  sorrow  is  it  to  see  per- 
,sons,  after  sorrow,  become  in  all  outward  show 
what  they  were  before;  even  as  the  impassive 
waters  are  troubled  for  a  while  by  the  stone  which 
severs  them,  and  then  become  calm  and  cold  as 
heretofore ;  sadder  far,  for  it  seems  like  casting 
aside  God's  healing  hand,  and  rising  up  from 
under  it  when  He  is  laying  low.  Rather,  it  is  a 
Christian's  joy,  and  comfort,  and  peace,  and 
health,  when  God  has  laid  him  low,  there  to  lie; 
humble,  in  proportion  as  God  has  humbled  him; 
to  lie  low  at  the  foot  of  His  cross,  trusting  that, 
by  the  virtue  of  that  cross,  He  will  raise  up  those 
who  lie  willingly  where  He  has  placed  them.  It 
is  well  to  be  there  where  God  wills ;  and  so,  what- 
ever it  be,  sorrow  bringing  sin  to  remembrance,  or 
agony  for  past  sin,  or  dread  of  judgment,  it  is  our 
wisdom  not  to  vent  it  in  excitement,  much  less  to 
seek  to  distract  it  or  waste  it,  but  to  take  it  calm- 
ly home  to  our  bosoms,  and  treasure  it  there, 
jealously  watching  lest  we  lose  one  drop  of  its 
wholesome  bitterness  ;  not  anxious  to  escape  sor- 
row, but  anxious  only  not  to  lose  its  fruits. 


SI  CONSOLATIO. 

In  pain,  sickness,  trouble,  methinks  I  hear 
God  say,  Take  this  medicine,  exactly  suited  to 
the  case,  prepared  and  weighed  by  my  own 
hands,  and  consisting  of  the  choicest  drugs  which 
heaven  affords. 


A  most  comfortable  command. 

"My  son,  give  me  thine  heart. "^  Who  can 
fathom  the  breadth,  and  length,  and  depth  of 
this  one  expression?  It  seems  to  say,  "All 
that  breathes  within  that  heart  is  known  to 
me.  I  know  how  vulnerable,  how  ill  prepared  it 
is  to  stand  the  shocks,  and  bear  the  assaults,  of 
such  a  world  as  it  now  lives  in.  I  know  the 
sickening  anguish,  the  deep  distress,  the  killing 
disappointments  it  will  feel,  if  it  vainly  assays  to 
rest  its  sensibilities  upon  the  creature,  or  to  satisfy 
its  thirst  at  streams  that  are  rapidly  drying  up. 
That  heart  was  made  for  me,  and  in  me  alone  it 
can  be  happy.  I  can  lodge  it  where  no  shaft  can 
reach  it.  I  can  '  keep  it  safe  as  the  apple  of  the 
eye,  and  hide  it  under  the  shadow  of  my  wings.' 
I  can  still  its  throbbings,  calm  its  perturbations, 
and  turn  its  sorrow  into  joy.     Out  of  me  it  must 

.    ,.»-  J,  .r,      ,   1  Prov.  xxiii.  26. 


CONSOLATIO.  53 

wander  without  peace,  for  I  am  the  haven  where 
it  would  be.    My  son,  then,  give  me  thine  heart." 


Trial,  ever  the  portion  of  the  trxie  disciple. 

Take  up  thy  portion,  then.  Christian  soul,  and 
weigh  it  well,  and  learn  to  love  it.  Thou  wilt 
find,  if  thou  art  Christ's,  in  spite  of  what  the 
world  fancies,  that,  after  all,  even  at  this  day, 
endurance,  in  a  special  sense,  is  the  lot  of  those 
who  offer  themselves  to  be  servants  to  the  King 
of  Sorrows.  There  is  an  inward  world,  which 
none  see  but  those  who  belong  to  it ;  and  though 
the  outside  robe  be  many-colored,  like  Joseph's 
coat,  inside  it  is  lined  with  camels'  hair,  or  sack- 
cloth, fitting  those  who  desire  to  be  one  with  Him 
who  fared  hardly  in  the  wilderness,  in  the  moun- 
tain, and  on  the  sea.  There  is  an  inward  world 
into  which  they  enter  who  come  near  to  Christ, 
though  to  men  in  general  they  seem  the  same  as 
before.  They  hold  the  same  place  as  before  in 
the  world's  society ;  their  employments  are  the 
same,  their  ways,  their  comings  in,  and  their 
goings  out.  If  they  were  high  in  rank,  they  are 
still  high ;  if  they  were  in  active  life,  they  are 
still  active;  if  they  were  wealthy,  they  still  have 
wealth.     They  have  still  great  friends,  powerful 


^  CONSOLATIO. 

connections,  ample  resources,  fair  name,  in  the 
world's  eye ;  but  if  they  have  drunk  of  Christ's 
cup,  and  tasted  the  bread  of  His  table  in  sinceri- 
ty, it  is  not  with  them  as  in  times  past.  A  change 
has  come  over  them,  unknown  indeed  to  them- 
selves, except  in  its  efl'ects;  but  they  have  a  por- 
tion in  destinies  which  other  men  have  not;  and 
as  having  destinies,  they  have  conflicts  also. 
They  drank  what  looked  like  a  draught  of  this 
world,  but  it  associated  them  in  hopes  and  fears, 
trials  and  purposes,  above  this  world.  They 
came  as  for  a  blessing,  and  they  have  found  a 
work.  They  are  soldiers  in  Christ's  army;  they 
fight  against  "  things  that  are  seen,"  and  they 
have  "all  these  things  against  them."  To  their 
surprise,  as  time  goes  on,  they  find  that  their  lot 
is  changed.  They  find  that,  in  one  shape  or 
other,  adversity  happens  to  them.  One  blow  falls, 
they  are  startled ;  it  passes  over,  it  is  well ;  they 
expect  nothing  more.  Another  comes;  they 
wonder.  "Why  is  this?"  they  ask;  they  think 
that  the  first  should  be  their  security  against  the 
second;  they  bear  it,  however,  and  it  passes  too. 
Then  a  third  comes;  they  also  murmur:  they 
have  not  yet  mastered  the  great  doctrine,  that 
endurance  is  their  portion.  O,  simple  soul,  is  it 
not  the  law  of  thy  being  to  endure,  since  thou 
earnest  to  Christ?  Why  camest  thou,  but  to 
endure?      Why  didst  thou  taste   His  heavenly 


*  CONSOLATIO.  56 

feast,  but  that  it  might  work  in  thee?  Why  didst 
thou  kneel  beneath  His  hand,  but  that  He  might 
leave  on  thee  the  print  of  His  wounds?  Why 
wonder,  then,  that  one  sorrow  does  not  buy  off 
the  rest?  Does  one  drop  of  rain  absorb  the 
second?  Does  the  storm  cease  because  it  has 
begun  ?  Understand  thy  place  in  God's  kingdom ; 
and  rejoice,  not  complain,  that  in  thy  day,  thou 
hast  thy  lot  with  prophets  and  apostles. 

Judge  not  by  appearance,  but  be  sure  that, 
even  when  things  seem  to  brighten  and  smile 
upon  God's  true  servants,  there  is  much  within 
to  try  them,  though  you  see  it  not.  Of  old  times 
they  wore  clothing  of  hair  and  sackcloth  under 
rich  robes.  Men  do  not  observe  this  custom  now- 
a-days;  but  be  quite  sure  still  that  there  are  as 
many  sharp  distresses  underneath  the  visible  garb 
of  things  as  if  they  did.  Many  a  secret  ailment 
or  scarcely  observed  infirmity  exercises  him  who 
has  it,  better  than  thorns  or  knotted  cord.  Many 
a  silent  grief  lying  like  lead  within  the  heart,  or 
like  cold  ice  upon  the  heart.  Many  a  sad  secret 
which  a  man  dare  not  tell,  lest  he  should  find  no 
sympathy ;  many  a  laden  conscience,  laden  be- 
cause the  owner  of  it  has  turned  to  Christ,  and 
which  he  would  not  have  felt,  had  he  kept  from 
Him.  Many  an  apprehension  for  the  future, 
which  cannot  be  spoken ;  many  a  bereavement 
which    has    robbed    the   world's   gifts  of   their 


Bi  CONSOLATIO.  ' 

pleasant  savour,  and  leads  the  heart  but  to  sigh  at 
the  sight  of  them.  No ;  never  while  the  Church 
lasts,  will  the  words  of  old  Jacob  be  reversed, 
"All  things  here  are  against  us"  but  God  ;  but  if 
God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  really  against  us?  If 
He  is  in  the  midst  of  us,  how  shall  we  be  moved? 
If  Christ  has  died  and  risen  again,  what  death 
can  come  upon  us,  though  we  may  be  made  to 
die  daily  ?  What  sorrow,  pain,  humiliation,  trial, 
but  must  end  as  His  has  ended,  in  a  continual 
resurrection  into  His  new  world,  and  in  a  nearer 
and  nearer  approach  unto  Him?  He  pronounced 
a  blessing  over  His  Apostles,  and  they  have 
scattered  it  far  and  wide  over  the  earth  unto  this 
day.  It  runs  as  follows :  "  My  peace  I  give  unto 
you ;  not  as  the  world  giveth,  give  I  unto  you." 
"These  things  I  have  spoken  unto  you,  that  in 
Me  ye  might  have  peace.  In  the  world  ye  shall 
have  tribulation :  but  be  of  good  cheer,  I  have 
overcome  the  world." 


God  does  not  offer  me  health,  long  life,  plenty 
of  worldly  accommodations,  respect,  distinctions, 
principalities,  universal  empire;  but,  oh  unutter- 
able grace !  —  Himself. 


CONSOLATIO.  67 

Consolation  of  the  sympathy  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"  When  Jesus  saw  Mary  weeping,  and  the 
Jews  also  weeping  which  came  with  her,  he 
groaned  in  the  spirit,  and  was  troubled."^  It  is 
the  very  nature  of  compassion  or  sympathy,  as 
the  word  imphes,  to  "rejoice  with  those  who 
rejoice,  and  weep  with  those  who  weep."  We 
know  it  is  so  with  men ;  and  God  tells  us  He  also 
is  compassionate,  and  full  of  tender  mercy.  Yet 
we  do  not  know  well  what  this  means ;  for  how 
can  God  rejoice  or  grieve  1  By  the  very  perfec- 
tion of  His  nature.  Almighty  God  cannot  show 
sympathy,  at  least  to  the  comprehension  of  beings 
of  such  limited  minds  as  ours.  He,  indeed,  is  hid 
from  us  ;  but  if  we  were  allowed  to  see  Him, 
how  could  we  discern,  in  the  Eternal  and  un- 
changeable, signs  of  sympathy?  Words  and 
works  of  sympathy  in  another,  affect  and  comfort 
the  sufferer  more  even  than  the  fruits  of  it.  Now, 
we  cannot  see  God's  sympathy;  and  the  Son  of 
God,  though  feeling  for  us  as  great  compassion  as 
His  Father,  did  not  show  it  for  us,  while  He  re- 
mained in  His  Father's  bosom.  But  when  He 
took  flesh,  and  appeared  on  earth.  He  showed  us 
the  Godhead  in  a  new  manifestation  ;  He  invest- 
ed Himself  with  a  new  set  of  attributes,  those  of 
our  flesh;    taking  into  Him  a  human  soul  and 

'  John  xi.  33. 


56  CONSOLATIO. 

body,  in  order  that  thoughts,  feeHngs,  and  affec- 
tions, might  be  His,  which  could  respond  to  ours, 
and  certify  to  us  His  tender  mercy.  When,  then, 
our  Saviour  weeps  from  sympathy  with  Mary's 
tears,  let  us  not  say  it  is  the  love  of  a  man  over- 
come by  natural  feeling;  it  is  the  love  of  God,  the 
bowels  of  compassion  of  the  Almighty  and  Eternal 
condescending  to  appear  as  we  are  capable  of  re- 
ceiving it,  in  the  form  of  human  nature.  Jesus 
wept,  therefore,  not  merely  from  the  deep  thoughts 
of  His  understanding,  but  from  spontaneous  ten- 
derness ;  from  the  gentleness  and  mercy,  the 
encompassing  loving-kindness,  and  exuberant 
fostering  affection  of  the  Son  of  God  for  His  own 
work,  the  race  of  man.  Their  tears  touched  Him 
at  once,  as  their  miseries  had  brought  Him  down 
from  heaven.  His  ear  was  open  to  them,  and  the 
sound  of  weeping  went  at  once  to  His  heart. 

Let  us  take  to  ourselves  these  comfortable 
thoughts,  both  in  the  contemplation  of  our  own 
death,  or  upon  the  death  of  our  friends.  Where- 
ever  faith  in  Christ  is,  there  is  Ciirist  Himself. 
He  said  to  Martha,  "  Believest  thou  this?" 
Wherever  there  is  a  heart  to  answer,  "Lord,  I 
believe,"  there  Christ  is  present;  there  our  Ijord 
vouchsafes  to  stand,  though  unseen :  whether 
over  the  bed  of  death,  or  over  the  grave ;  whether 
we  ourselves  are  sinking,  or  those  who  are  dear 
to  us.     Blessed  be  His  name  !  nothing  can  rob  us 


CONSOLATIO.  59 

of  this  consolation  :  we  will  be  as  certain,  through 
His  grace,  that  He  is  standing  over  us  in  love,  as 
though  we  saw  Him.  We  will  not,  after  our  ex- 
perience of  Lazarus's  history,  doubt  an  instant 
that  He  is  thoughtful  about  us.  He  knows  the 
beginnings  of  our  illness,  though  He  keeps  at  a 
distance.  He  knows  when  to  remain  away,  and 
when  to  draw  near.  He  notes  down  the  advanc- 
ing of  it,  and  the  stages.  He  tells  truly  when  His 
friend  Lazarus  is  sick,  and  when  he  sleeps.  We 
all  have  experience  of  this  in  the  narrative  before 
us ;  and  henceforth,  so  be  it !  will  never  complain 
at  the  course  of  His  Providence.  Only,  we  will 
beg  of  Him  an  increase  of  faith,  a  more  lively  per- 
ception of  the  curse  under  which  the  world  lies, 
and  of  our  own  personal  demerits  ;  a  more  under- 
standing view  of  the  mystery  of  His  cross ;  a  more 
devout  and  implicit  reliance  on  the  virtue  of  it, 
and  a  more  confident  persuasion  that  He  will 
never  put  upon  us  more  than  we  can  bear, — never 
afiiict  His  brethren  with  any  woe,  except  for  their 
own  highest  benefit. 


The  Lorcfs  second  advent,  the  cure  for  care  and  sorrow. 

"  Let  your  moderation  be  known  unto  all  men. 
The  Lord  is  at  hand.  Be  careful  for  nothing; 
but  in  every  thing  by  prayer  and  supplication 


ft  CONSOLATIO.  , 

with  thanksgiving  let  yonr  requests  be  made 
known  unto  God.  And  the  peace  of  God,  which 
passeth  all  understanding,  shall  keep  yonr  hearts 
and  minds  through  Christ  Jesus.'"  Why  does 
the  Apostle  counsel  thus?  His  object  is  to 
produce  moderation.  The  way  to  produce  it, 
is  to  rid  yourself  of  anxiety.  If  I  am  not 
anxious  whether  my  cup  be  full,  or  whether  it  be 
empty,  I  cannot  be  immoderate  in  my  desires. 
If  I  am  letting  my  mind  lie  passive  on  the  sea  of 
God's  providential  dispensations,  then  come  storm, 
come  calm ;  whatever  it  be,  I  am  at  rest,  I  am 
tranquil,  I  am  at  anchor :  my  cable  is  faith,  the 
rock  I  am  tied  to,  is  the  will  of  my  Father  in 
heaven.  There  is  a  blessed  peace  in  this  state  of 
holy  acquiescence.  It  is  the  anxiety  about  so 
many  unimportant  things,  that  makes  life  so 
troubled.  It  is  the  fixing  our  minds  upon  this 
thing  or  that  thing,  and  determining  with  our- 
selves that  they  are  absolutely  indispensable  for 
our  happiness,  that  makes  us  so  unhappy.  We 
jeopardy  our  peace,  directly  that  we  determine 
any  earthly  thing  to  be  indispensable  for  our  wel- 
fare. It  is  astonishing  how  many  barks  of  happi- 
ness are  wrecked  in  this  way :  it  is  quite  amazing 
how  many  stately  vessels  of  Christian  hope,  if  not 
quite  wrecked,  are  stranded,  or  tossed  and  beaten 

'  Phil.  iv.  5. 


CONSOLATIO.  61 

about  among  these  quicksands  of  unrestrained 
desire.  " This  thing,"  says  one;  "give  me  but 
this  thing,  or  take  from  me  but  this  sorrow,  or  lead 
me  but  out  of  this  one  difficulty,  or  remove  from 
me  but  this  rival,  and  then  my  soul  shall  be  at 
peace."  Unhappy  they  who  thus  imagine  !  How 
contrary  is  all  this  to  the  prayer  we  daily  offer, 
"ThyAvill  be  done."  Beloved  brethren,  strive 
to  think  every  thing  a  blessing  which  God  sends 
you, — every  thing  injurious  which  He  denies  you. 
Be  not  anxious  about  earthly  matters,  whether 
they  be  great  or  small ;  and  in  the  end  you  will 
find  every  earthly  thing  too  small  to  make  you 
anxious. 

•Will  the  thought  of  the  period  of  the  second 
Advent,  help  the  Christian  man  to  moderation  1 
The  text  tells  us  that  it  will.  Why,  then,  and 
how  will  it  do  it  1  The  answer  is  simple.  One 
great  and  filling  thought  Avill  drive  out  all  smaller 
and  more  troubling  anxieties.  The  expectation 
of  the  Creator  will  calm  and  displace  those  vain 
expectations,  which  we  are  constantly  forming, 
of  the  creature.  If  I  am  looking  anxiously  for. 
Christ's  coming,  I  cannot  look  very  anxiously  for 
the  fulfilment  of  any  earthly  hopes.  A  full  cup, 
or  a  full  purse,  or  marriage  blessings,  or  a  home 
to  rest  my  body  in,  or  a  friend's  bosom  for  my 
heart  to  repose  on,  or  grandeur,  or  pomp,  or 
power,  or  place — it  is  impossible  that  I  should' 


|§  CONSOLATIO. 

inordinately  crave  any  of  these  things,  if  I  £fm  in 
true  earnestness  looking  for  my  Lord  and  Saviour. 
They  are  many  of  them  great  blessings;  flowers 
of  innocent  fragrance,  planted  along  the  path  we 
tread:  but  they  are  not  necessary;  we  can  do 
without  them.  And  if  the  Lord  be  our  hope,  if 
we  are  waiting  for  His  coming,  looking  for  it, 
longing  for  it;  if  the  dawning  of  it  seem  to  our 
glad  hearts  already  glimmering  over  the  hills ;  if 
the  wonderful  march  of  mighty  events  be  like  the 
solemn,  but  "beautiful  feet"  of  our  God  upon 
"the  mountains;"  if  we  are  thus  "looking  for 
and  hasting  unto"  that  glorious  appearing,  how 
is  it  possible  that  worldly  cares  should  make  us 
over  anxious?  "  Nay,  my  soul,"  so  reasons  such 
a  blessed  expectant;  "nay,  my  soul,  one  thing 
alone  is  needful ;  trouble  not  thyself  about  this 
loss,  or  that  gain ;  smile  not  too  joyously,  weep 
not  too  sadly ;  for  smiles,  and  tears,  and  loss,  and 
gain,  shall  all  be  swallowed  up  in  the  glory,  and 
forgotten  in  the  overwhelming  presence  of  thy 
returning  Ijord." 

But  it  is  not  by  thoughts  like  these,  however 
good  and  great,  that  anxious  care  can  be  alto- 
gether overcome.  The  Apostle  gives  us  a  further 
direction;  it  is  to  pray.  "In  everything  by 
prayer  and  supplication,  let  your  requests  be 
made  known  unto  God." 

Now,  it  is  the  Spirit  that  teaches  us  to  pray  : 


CONSOLATIO.  63 

it  is  the  name  of  Christ  that  we  plead,  and  by  the 
power  of  the  Spirit  that  we  are  enabled  accept- 
ably to  do  so.  But  prayer  links  us  to  God:  it  is 
a  chain  of  glory  reaching  from  earth  to  heaven  ; 
the  wants  of  man  pass  like  electricity  up  its  shin- 
ing links,  and  heaven  in  all  its  power  and  conso- 
lation descends  upon  them.  This  is  the  reason 
why  the  Apostle  counsels  us  to  make  our  requests 
known  unto  God ;  he  counsels  this  as  the  way  to 
peace,  for  the  telling  of  our  wants  and  our  sor- 
rows to  God  is  the  sure  way  to  obtain  consola- 
tion and  supply.  The  assurance  of  this  fact  is 
built  on  the  eternal  truth  of  God's  faithful  charac- 
ter ;  we  canyiot  go  to  God  in  earliest  seeking  with- 
out success.  "  Ask  and  ye  shall  have,  seek  and 
ye  shall  find,"  is  the  unalterable  law  of  heaven. 
"  Casting  all  your  care  upon  Him,  for  He  careth 
for  you,"  is  the  hand-writing  of  an  Apostle,  and 
the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  We  do  well 
to  take  this  blessed  counsel,  and  hide  it  in  our 
bosom.  We  should  put  it  away  as  a  cure  for 
heart's  trouble,  as  men  put  away  some  valuable 
receipt  for  some  dangerous  disorder.  In  "  every 
thing"  remember,  not  in  one  thing,  not  in  two, 
not  in  great  things  only,  but  in  every  the  smallest 
thing  that  tries  and  perplexes  you,  "let  your  re- 
quests be  made  known  unto  God."  If  a  child  is 
hurt,  it  runs  to  its  mother,  and  tells  her  of  the 
injury  it  has  received;  if  it  is  in  want,  it  goes  to 


§1  CONSOLATIO. 

its  parents  to  relieve  it ;  or  if  in  riper  youth  it  is 
anxious  about  the  future,  troubled,  thoughtful, 
perplexed,  it  goes  to  its  father,  and  pours  all  its 
troubles  into  his  heart.  But  the  things  of  earth 
are  but  the  patterns  of  things  in  the  heavens. 
Every  parent  is  to  his  children  a  type  of  God  to 
his.  This  is  our  encouragement.  We  are  to 
come  with  expectation,  praying  for  help ;  we  are 
to  come  also  with  "  supplication,"  i.  e.  with  ear- 
nest prayer,  with  clasped  hands  and  bended  knees, 
prostrating  ourselves  before  the  mercy  throne. 
We  are  to  come  with  "thanksgiving"  also;  we 
are  to  remember  how  much  we  possess,  although 
there  be  so  much  that  we  want ;  how  much  we 
are  to  bless  God  for,  while  there  are  so  many 
burdens  which  we  beg  Him  to  remove.  We  must 
remember  what  an  exceeding  privilege  it  is  to  be 
allowed,  nay,  invited  to  pray ;  what  an  unspeak- 
able blessing  to  be  assured  that  we  have  in  Him, 
in  whose  name  we  pray,  a  most  tender  and  sym- 
pathizing Friend,  as  well  as  an  Almighty  and 
all-prevailing  Intercessor.  Even  in  our  deepest 
sorrows  we  have  abundant  cause  to  pray  "  with 
thanksgiving." 

It  may  seem  to  some  as  if  we  almost  lowered 
the  idea  of  the  majestic  God,  by  making  Him  so 
entirely  the  depository  of  our  wants  ;  tut  the  ex- 
pression of  the  text  justifies  the  most  unbounded 
confidence,  so  only  our  confidence  be  mingled  with 


CONSOLATIO.  65 

reverence.  Nay,  more,  we  must  remember  that 
it  is  not  we  who  would  draw  God  down  to  our 
low  wapts  ;  He  has  descended  Himself  to  the  last 
level  of  our  weakness.  He  is  in  Christ  the  God- 
man.  His  manhood  is  the  basis  of  our  trust  for 
sympathy ;  his  Godhead  is  our  confidence  for 
power  and  help.  As  man,  there  is  no  sorrow 
which  we  can  feel,  that  does  not  touch  Him  ;  as 
God,  there  is  no  cry  which  we  can  make  for  help, 
which  He  is  not  Almighty  to  answer.  Whilst  in 
His  almightiuess,  "He  telleth  the  number  of  the 
stars,  and  calleth  them  all  by  their  names;"  in 
His  meek  and  tender  compassion,  "  He  healeth 
the  broken  in  heart,  and  bindeth  up  their  wounds." 


The  love  of  God,  all  satisfying. 

The  good  which  we  receive  from  believing  in 
the  love  of  God,  manifested  in  Christ  Jesus,  is 
analogous  to  that  which  we  receive  from  believ- 
ing in  the  worth  and  kindness  of  a  human  friend, 
only  that  the  one  is  as  nothing  in  comparison 
with  the  other ;  it  is  nothing  else  than  the  enjoy- 
ment of  God  in  Himself  and  in  His  creatures.  It 
is  not  any  thing  that  we  get  on  account  of  our 
loving  Him;  but  it  is  the  happiness  of  loving 
6 


91  CONSOLATIO. 

Hira,  and  knowing  ourselves  to  be  loved  by  Him ; 
it  is  a  dwelling  on,  and  in  His  high  perfections : 
it  is  giving  Him  our  perfect  sympathy,  and  re- 
ceiving His :  it  is  knowing  Him  as  the  infinite 
God,  and  yet  as  an  affectionate  Father ;  as  a 
friend  that  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother.  It  is 
the  assurance  which  the  heart  draws  from 
His  love  in  giving  His  Son,  and  perhaps  from 
some  more  special  and  personal  tokens  of  that 
love,  that  He  will  never  leave  us  nor  forsake  us ; 
that  He  will  never  cease  to  love  us  with  a  love 
which  will  be,  and  must  be,  our  satisfying,  and 
filling,  and  delighting  portion,  through  all  eternity. 
It  is  the  joyful  and  confident  anticipation  of  the 
day  when  the  mystery  of  God  shall  be  accom- 
plished, and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  reveal- 
ed, and  when  the  children  of  God  shall  be  glad, 
and  rejoice  for  ever  in  the  new  heavens  and  the 
new  earth  which  their  Father  shall  create.  It  is 
the  discovering  that  all  the  works  of  creation,  — 
all  events,  time  and  space,  eternity  and  infinity, 
every  thing  is  full  of  that  God  who  loved  us,  and 
gave  himself  for  us;  and  who,  in  giving  us  Him- 
self, freely  gives  us  all  things. 


CONSOLATIO.  f7 


God's  moral  training  of  us;  and  self-crucijlxion. 

"Count  it  all  ]oy  when  you  fall  into  divers  trials, 
for  the  trial  of  your  faith  giveth  it  endurance;^'  ^ 
that  is,  works  the  Divine  principle  into  the 
very  substance  of  the  mind.  This  surely  is  the 
great  purpose  of  Providence  in  the  appointment 
of  events  with  regard  to  individuals.  Not  a 
sparrow  falleth  to  the  ground  without  God,  and 
not  an  event  happens  without  a  particular  refer- 
ence to  the  state  and  character  of  the  person  to 
whom  it  happens.  We  have  thus  every  day  of 
our  lives  many  direct  and  special  messages  from 
God  to  our  souls.  They  are  messages  from  God, 
and  surely  we  show  Him  small  respect  if  we 
treat  His  messages  as  trifling  things.  They  are 
full  of  importance ;  they  are  opportunities  given 
to  us  of  dying  unto  self,  and  living  unto  God,  and 
holding  communion  with  Him.  In  every  one  of 
them  God  says  to  us,  "Seek  ye  my  face;"  and 
we  ought  to  be  ever  ready  with  our  answer, 
"  Thy  face.  Lord,  will  we  seek."  With  what  an 
awakenedness  of  attention  should  we  live,  if  we 
really  believed  that  every  event  is  a  voice  from 
God,  and  an  opportunity  of  dying  unto  self, 
which  cannot  be  neglected  without  great  guilt, 
and  great  loss  to  our  souls.  My  dear  reader,  allow 

.■.^^■,    i    .■  1  James,  i.  2.  *-         •,../.. 


^  CONSOLATIO. 

me  to  repeat  this  to  you.  Every  event  that  hap- 
pens to  us  strengthens  either  the  love  of  God  or 
the  principle  of  self  within  us,  hecause  on  every 
event  we  exercise  our  judgment  or  our  feelings; 
and  this  we  must  do  either  according  to  the  will 
of  God,  or  according  to  our  own  will. 

Thus  we  can  never  stand  still  for  a  moment ; 
there  is  no  rest  from  the  conflict;  we  are  con- 
tinually taking  part  either  with  God  or  against 
God.  There  are  but  two  ways  in  which  man  can 
walk  towards  eternity  ;  the  narrow  way,  which 
leads  to  life ;  and  the  broad  way,  which  leads  to 
destruction.  The  first  is  the  way  of  self-forget- 
ting, and  God-pleasing ;  the  second  is  the  way  of 
self-pleasing  and  God-forgetting.  He  is  either 
resisting  self  or  not.  He  may  be  doing  nothing 
decidedly  wrong,  according  to  the  world's  esti- 
mate of  duty ;  but  unless  he  is  systematically 
denying  himself,  and  taking  up  his  cross  daily, 
he  cannot  be  Christ's  disciple;  for  there  is  no  room 
for  Christ's  love  in  a  heart  which  refuses  to  give 
up  self.  Oh  !  if  we  felt  as  we  ought,  that  that 
only  is  good  which  draws  us  near  to  God,  and 
that  self  is  indeed  the  great  bar  which  divides  us 
from  God,  and  keeps  us  at  a  distance  from  Him, 
how  easily  should  we  be  reconciled  to  those  events 
which  cross  and  thwart  the  principle  of  self,  see- 
ing that  they  weaken  the  bar  which  separates  us 
from  God,  our  only  real  good ;  we  should  then 


CONSOLATIO.  ^ 

know  that  there  is  no  evil  but  sin,  and  that  every 
thing  else  must  be  a  blessing,  if  it  is  received  in 
the  spirit  of  prayer. 


The  lessons  taught,  hy  God's  delay,  in  answering  our 
prayers. 

The  lesson  taught  us  by  the  woman  of  Canaan  * 
has  many  aspects,  of  which  the  first,  perhaps,  is 
this;  that  by  every  mark  and  token  which  the 
stricken  soul  can  read,  He  to  whom  she  sought  is 
the  only  true  portion  and  rest  of  every  human 
heart;  that  He  would  teach  ns  this  by  all  the  dis- 
cipline of  outward  things;  that  the  ties  of  family 
life  are  meant  thus  to  train  up  our  weak  affections 
till  they  be  fitted  to  lay  hold  on  Him ;  that  the 
eddies  and  sorrows  of  life  are  meant  to  sweep  us 
from  its  flowery  banks,  that  in  its  deep  strong 
currents  we  may  fly  to  Him ;  that  for  this  end 
He  opens  to  us  little  by  little  the  mystery  of 
trouble  round  us,  the  mystery  of  evil  within  us, 
that  we  may  fly  from  others  and  ourselves,  to 
Him.  » 

There  is  this  further  lesson  also,  that  He  will 
most  surely  be  found  by  those  who  do  seek  after 

'  Matthew,  xv.  23. 


fff  CONSOLATIO. 

Him ;  and  this  is  taught  us  here,  not  by  a  mere 
general  assurance  that  we  shall  be  heard,  but  in  a 
way  which  enters  far  more  practically  into  those 
difficulties  with  which  every  one  who  has  striven 
to  pray  earnestly,  finds  earnest  prayer  beset ;  for 
here  we  see  why  it  often  happens  that  really 
earnest  and  sincere  men  seem,  for  a  time  at  least, 
to  pray  in  vain ;  why  their  "  Lord,  help  me,"  is 
not  answered  by  a  word.  It  is  not  that  Christ  is 
not  near  us  ;  it  is  not  that  His  ear  is  heavy  ;  it  is 
not  that  the  tenderness  of  His  sympathy  is  blunt- 
ed; it  is  a  part  of  His  plan  of  faithfulness  and 
wisdom.  He  has  a  double  purpose  herein ;  He 
would  bless  by  it  both  us  and  all  His  Church. 

How  could  His  Church  have  been  taught  always 
to  pray,  and  not  to  faint,  better  than  by  such  a 
narrative  as  this?  How  many  a  fainting  soul  has 
gathered  strength  for  one  more  hour  of  patient 
supplication,  by  thinking  on  this  Canaanitish 
mother,  on  her  seeming  rejection,  on  her  blessed 
success  at  last ! 

And  for  ourselves,  too,  there  is  a  special  mercy 
in  these  long-delayed  blessings ;  for  it  is  only  by 
degrees  that  the  work  within  us  can  be  perfected ; 
it  is  only  by  steps,  small  and  imperceptible  as  we 
are  taking  them,  yet  one  hy  one  leading  us  to 
unknown  heights,  that  we  can  mount  up  to  the 
golden  gate  before  us.  The  ripening  of  these  pre- 
cious fruits  must  not  be  forced.     We  have  many 


CONSOLATIO.  71 

lessons  to  learn,  and  we  can  learn  them  but  one 
by  one ;  and  much  are  we  taught  by  these  delay- 
ed answers  to  our  prayers.  By  them  the  treasure 
of  our  hearts  is  cleared  from  dross,  as  in  the  fur- 
nace-heat ;  our  earthly  will  is  purified  and  bowed  ; 
the  passionate  fervency  of  unchastened  prayer  is 
deepened  into  the  strong  breath  of  humble  suppli- 
cation ;  we  "  wait  upon  the  Lord  who  hideth  His 
face;  "  the  frowardness  of  our  hearts  is  checked  ; 
patience  has  her  perfect  work  ;  we  are  kept  look- 
ing up  to  Christ;  we  watch  Him  by  faith,  and  by 
His  grace,  even  as  we  hang  upon  Him,  we  grow 
like  unto  Him ;  His  secret  work  goes  on  in  us ; 
we  see  Him  as  once  we  saw  Him  not,  amidst  the 
shadows  of  this  busy  life  of  trifles ;  we  hear  His 
voice,  for  we  are  used  to  watch  for  it ;  we  dwell 
in  Him  and  He  in  us. 

Nor  can  we  ever  pray  in  vain,  if  we  will  but 
persevere  in  praying.  When  we  gain  not  our 
suit  at  once,  we  are  ever  too  ready  to  desist ; 
therefore  is  it  that  the  Lord  withholds  the  answer, 
that  we  may  learn  to  persevere  in  asking ;  that 
we  may  grow  to  trust  His  love,  to  know  what 
He  is  to  us,  yea,  what  He  is  to  all  who  wait  upon 
Him. 

He  would  but  teach  us  to  come  to  Him  at  once 
for  all,  and  not  to  leave  Him  until  we  have  won 
our  suit.  He  would  but  have  us  know  that  we 
may  thus  deal  with  Him ;  that  we  want  no  Inter- 


ff  CONSOLATIO. 

cessor  with  Him,  who  is  Himself  the  true  and 
only  Intercessor;  that  nothing  is  to  be  interposed 
between  our  souls  and  Him ;  that  He  is  the  por- 
tion of  those  souls, -and  that  we  may  go  straight 
to  Him. 

Only  let  ns,  then,  deal  thus  with  Him  ;  let  us 
open  to  Him  our  grief,  our  sin,  our  shame,  our 
difficulties ;  let  us  show  Him  our  need  ;  tell  Him 
where,  "  at  home,"  hidden  from  the  rude  eye  of 
the  world,  but  known  to  Him,  is  the  "  young 
daughter  grievously  afflicted ; "  plead  with  Him 
by  His  covenant  of  tears ;  and,  even  as  we  enter 
with  Him  into  that  cloud,  on  us  too  shall  come 
forth  the  sense  of  a  presence  which  this  world 
knows  not ;  and  a  voice  shall  speak  to  us  which 
the  world  cannot  hear;  and  we  shall  be  alone 
with  Him ;  and  He  shall  call  us  by  our  name, 
and  we  shall  be  His. 


The  sleep  of  Death,  and  the  absence  of  Jesus. 

"Our  friend  Lazarus  sleepeth."  ^  What  a 
sweet  title  is  here,  both  of  death  and  of  Laza- 
rus !  Death  is  a  sleep ;  liazarus  is  our  friend. 
Lo,    He   says   not   "my   friend,"   but  ours;    to 

.  .  n.  ,     -.  <■        .      'John,  xi.  II.  ... 


CONSOLATIO.  78 

draw  them  first  into  a  gracious  familiarity  and 
communion  of  friendship  witli  Himself:  for  what 
doth  this  import  but  "  Ye  are  my  friends,  and 
Lazarus  is  both  my  friend  and  yours ; "  our 
friend.  O  meek  and  merciful  Saviour,  that  dis- 
dainest  not  to  stoop  so  low  as  that,  whilst  Thou 
thoughtest  it  no  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God, 
Thou  thoughtest  it  no  disparagement  to  match 
Thyself  with  weak  and  wretched  men  !  Our 
friend  Lazarus  !  There  is  a  kind  of  purity  in 
friendship.  There  may  be  love  where  there  is 
the  most  inequality  ;  but  friendship  supposes 
pairs;  yet  the  Son  of  God  says  of  the  sons  of 
men,  "Our  friend  Lazarus."  Oh!  what  a  high 
and  happy  condition  is  this  for  mortal  men  to  as- 
pire unto,  that  the  God  of  heaven  should  not  be 
ashamed  to  own  them  for  friends.  Neither  saith 
He  now  abruptly,  "  Lazarus  our  friend  is  dead," 
but  "  Lazarus  our  friend  sleepeth." 

O  Saviour !  none  can  know  the  estate  of  life 
or  death  so  well  as  Thou,  that  art  the  Lord  of 
both.  It  is  enough  that  Thou  tellest  us  that  death 
is  no  other  than  sleep;  that  which  was  wont  to 
pass  for  the  cousin  of  death,  is  now  itself  All 
this  while  we  have  mistaken  the  case  of  our  dis- 
solution :  we  took  it  for  an  enemy,  it  proves  a 
friend;  there  is  pleasure  in  that  wherein  we  sup- 
posed horror.  Who  is  afraid,  after  the  weary  toils 
of  the  day,  to  take  his  rest  by  night?  or  what  is 


^  CONSOLATIO. 

more  refreshing  to  the  spent  traveller  than^  sweet 
sleep?  It  is  our  infidelity,  our  impreparation,  that 
makes  death  any  other  than  advantage.  Even  so, 
Lord,  when  Thou  seest  I  have  toiled  enough,  let 
me  sleep  in  peace  ;  and  when  Thou  seest  I  have 
slept  enough,  awake  me  as  Thou  didst  thy  Laza- 
rus :  "  but  I  go  to  awake  him." 

The  absence  of  our  Saviour  from  the  death-bed 
of  Lazarus  was  not  casual,  but  voluntary ;  yea, 
He  is  not  only  willing  with  it,  but  glad  of  it;  "I 
am  glad  for  your  sakes  that  I  was  not  there." 
How  contrary  may  the  affections  of  Christ  and 
ours  be,  and  yet  be  both  good !  The  two  worthy 
sisters  were  much  grieved  at  our  Saviour's  ab- 
sence, as  doubting  it  might  savour  of  some  neg- 
lect. Christ  was  glad  of  it,  for  the  advantage  of 
His  disciples'  faith.  I  cannot  blame  them  that 
they  were  thus  sorry;  I  cannot  but  bless  Him, 
that  He  was  thus  glad.  The  gain  of  their  faith 
in  so  Divine  a  miracle,  was  more  than  could  be 
countervailed  by  their  momentary  sorrow.  God 
and  we  are  not  the  like  affected  by  the  same 
events :  He  laughs  where  we  mourn ;  He  is  an- 
gry where  we  are  pleased. 

The  difference  of  the  affections  arises  from  the 
difference  of  the  objects  which  Christ  and  they 
apprehend  in  the  same  occurrence.  Why  are  the 
sisters  sorrowful?  Because  upon  Christ's  absence 
Lazarus  died.     Why  was  Jesus  glad  He  was  not 


CONSOLATIO.  75 

there'?  For  the  benefit  which  He  saw  would 
accrue  to  their  faith.  There  is  much  variety  of 
prospect  in  every  act,  according  to  the  several  in- 
tentions and  issues  thereof;  yea,  even  in  the  very 
same  eyes.  The  father  sees  his  son  combating  in 
a  duel  for  his  country :  he  sees  blows  and  wounds 
on  the  one  side;  he  sees  renown  and  victory  on 
the  other ;  he  grieves  at  the  wounds,  he  rejoices 
at  the  honour.  Thus  doth  God  in  all  our  afflic- 
tions :  He  sees  our  tears,  and  hears  our  groans, 
and  pities  us ;  but  withal  He  looks  upon  our  pa- 
tience, our  faith,  our  crown,  and  is  glad  that  we 
are  afflicted.  O  God !  why  should  we  not  con- 
form our  diet  unto  thine?  When  we  lie  in  pain 
and  extremity,  we  cannot  but  droop  under  it ;  but 
do  we  find  ourselves  increased  in  true  mortifica- 
tion, in  patience,  in  hope,  in  a  constant  reliance 
on  thy  mercies  7  Why  are  we  not  more  joyed  in 
this,  than  dejected  with  the  other?  Since  the 
least  grain  of  the  increase  of  grace  is  more  worth, 
than  can  be  equalled  with  whole  pounds  of  bodily 
vexation. 


The  blessedness  of  acting  as  in  God's  presence. 

He  who  is  conscious  of  no  witness  but  his  fel- 
low-men, and  who  feels  that  he  has  no  part  to  act 
but  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  has  lost  all  cheering 


i^  CONSOLATIO. 

motive  to  right  conduct,  when  cut  off  by  circum- 
stances from  human  converse.  In  sleepless  nights 
and  days  of  languor  upon  his  couch,  he  has  no 
employment  but  to  count  the  hours;  no  com- 
panions but  restlessness  and  pain.  All  worth 
living  for  to  him  has  fled  ;  his  occupation  is  gone : 
a  burthen  to  himself,  and  still  left  to  himself,  when 
"  in  the  night  he  communes  with  his  own  heart, 
and  searches  out  his  spirit;"  what  can  he  find 
there  but  the  mournful  conviction,  that  he  is 
"clean  forgotten,  as  a  dead  man  out  of  mind;" 
that  he  is  "  become  like  a  broken  vessel  1 " 

How  different  is  the  experience  of  that  man 
who  knows  that  he  is  a  "  fellow-citizen  with  the 
saints,  and  of  the  household  of  God!"  Though 
cast  into  the  deepest  shade  of  what  the  world  calls 
solitude,  he  is  never  less  alone  than  when  alone : 
he  is  cheered  by  the  consciousness  that  God  is 
"about  his  path,  and  about  his  bed,  and  spieth 
out  all  his  ways :  "  he  has  a  never-failing  and 
animating  motive  for  the  right  performance  of 
every,  the  most  trifling  action;  for  all  is  done  in 
the  presence  of  that  Being  "  in  whose  favor  is 
life,"  and  whose  smile  is  the  sunshine  of  the  world 
of  spirits.  In  the  chamber  of  disease,  in  silence, 
and  in  darkness,  he  has  still  his  duties  to  perform, 
his  part  to  act,  his  battles  to  fight,  and  victories 
to  gain;  and  all  this  not  only  in  the  sight  of  God, 
but  in  the  view  of  that  cloud  of  witnesses,  before 


CONSOLATIO.  77 

whom  every  candidate  for  an  immortal  crown 
runs  his  heavenward  race.  He  feels  that  no  silent 
submission  to  his  cross,  no  patient  endurance  of 
his  pain,  no  tear  of  penitence,  or  sigh  that  breathes 
towards  heaven,  is  forgotten  before  God  :  nay,  he 
is  assured  that  if  God  approves,  angels  and  min- 
istering spirits  rejoice  in  witnessing  how  his 
"light  afflictions,  which  are  but  for  a  moment, 
work  for  him  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal 
weight  of  glory." 

Such  is  the  only  solitude  which  the  man  of 
faith  and  prayer  can  know ;  such  are  the  scenes 
which  open  to  his  view  in  the  loneliness  of  his 
closet;  such  the  stars  and  constellations  which 
appear  when  the  light  of  this  world  is  withdrawn, 
and  its  sun  goes  down. 


The  fruiifulness  of  the  branch  in  Christ  increased  by 
prayer. 

"Furthermore,  we  have  had  fathers  of  our 
flesh,  who  corrected  us,  and  we  gave  them  rever- 
ence ;  shall  we  not  much  rather  be  in  subjection 
unto  the  Father  of  spirits,  and  live?  f^or  they 
verily  for  a  few  days  corrected  us,  after  their  own 
pleasure;  but  He  for  our  profit,  that  we  might  be 

partakers  of  His  holiness."  ^     There  is  a  rever- 

■  .■.«..--■-  .  . .     .^ 

*  Heb.  zii.  9. 


(|g  CONSOLATIO, 

ence  due  to  earthly  parents,  and  children  are 
required  to  submit  to  their  correction,  although 
herein  they  often  consult  their  own  will  and 
pleasure  more  than  their  children's  profit.  And 
is  not  greater  reverence  due  to  the  Father  of 
our  spirits,  and  shall  we  not  submit  to  His  cor- 
rections, especially  since  His  design  in  them 
is  to  promote  the  greatest  dignity  and  highest 
happiness  of  His  children,  even  to  make  them 
partakers  of  His  holiness?  for  to  partake,  is  not 
only  to  give  them  a  title  to,  but  also  to  give  them 
possession  of,  to  communicate,  to  have  fellowship 
with  Him,  to  share  with  Him  His  holiness.  And 
the  Heavenly  Husbandman,  purposing  to  make 
the  branches  very  fruitful,  has  provided  effectual 
means;  among  which  the  chief  is  His  fatherly 
correction.  This  He  sends  to  all  His  children, 
and  in  the  tenderest  love.  He  would  have  them 
to  bring  forth  much  fruit,  that  herein  He  may  be 
glorified;  holy  fruit,  produced  by  His  care  and 
culture,  and  ripened  by  daily  communications  of 
His  grace;  therefore.  He  appoints  many  heavy 
trials  and  crosses,  by  which  He  designs  to  bring 
them  not  only  to  believe  in  His  love,  but  also  to  a 
growing  enjoyment  of  it.  He  would  communi- 
cate to  them  an  increase  of  its  blessings :  He 
would  have  them  nearer  to  Himself,  and  more 
like  to  Himself;  holy  as  He  is  holy  —  not  in  de- 
gree, but  in  likeness :  He  would  teach  them  more 


CONSOLATIO.        •  79 

submission  to  His  will,  for  which  he  wisely  and 
mercifully  suits  the  cross:  He  would  improve 
their  love  to  Him,  which  He  does  by  manifesting 
His  to  them ;  therefore,  He  sends  his  cross  to 
deaden  their  hearts  to  other  love,  that  He  may 
give  them  a  happier  sense  of  His;  and  His  chil- 
dren have  found  suffering  times  blessed  times; 
they  never  had  such  nearness  to  their  Father, 
such  holy  freedom  with  Him,  and  such  heavenly 
refreshments  from  Him,  as  under  the  cross:  it 
only  took  away  what  stopped  the  increase  of  His 
happiness,  which  thereby  was  made  more  spirit- 
ual and  exalted.  The  cross,  thus  sanctified,  is 
the  greatest  blessing  on  this  side  heaven,  because 
by  it  the  Father  keeps  His  children  in  the  closest 
communion  that  they  have  with  Him  upon  earth : 
by  it  He  purges  them,  makes  them  fruitful,  and 
partakers  of  His  holiness  :  by  it  He  crucifies  the 
life  of  sense,  deadens  them  to  the  world,  mortifies 
their  lusts  and  passions ;  and  by  it,  as  the  out- 
ward man  perisheth,  the  inward  man  is  renewed 
day  by  day.  Most  blessed  renewal !  Daily,  the 
Father  communicates  (and  by  means  of  the  cross) 
new  life,  new  strength,  and  new  comfort,  to  the 
inward  man.  By  the  right  spirit  renewed  within 
him,  he  learns  the  necessity  of  the  daily  cross ;  he 
sees  the  merciful  appointment  of  it,  to  teach  resig- 
nation to  the  Father's  holy  will, — to  work  a  con- 
formity to  the  first-born  among  many  brethren, 


9^  CONSOLATIO. 

both  in  suffering  and  by  suffering, —  to  bring  in 
sensible  experience  of  the  Father's  support  and 
comfort.  What  blessings  are  these  ?  How  great ! 
how  precious  !  to  be  branches  in  the  vine,  and  to 
have  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  the 
husbandman,  who  grafts  them  into  Him.  Oh, 
what  an  infinite  mercy  is  this  !  And  to  be  under 
His  special  care,  faithfully  watched  over,  in 
order  to  remove  every  thing  hurtful,  and  to  be- 
stow every  thing  useful,  this  love  passeth  under- 
standing. And  to  have  this  love  to  feast  upon, 
in  the  absence  of  other  comforts ;  to  have  them 
taken  away  only  to  make  room  for  this  ;  to  enjoy 
this  most  plentifully,  even  under  troubles  and 
afflictions ;  and  to  be  only  purged  by  them  in 
order  to  bring  forth  much  fruit :  these  are  tri- 
umphs of  Divine  love. 


7%e  hrethren  of  Christ,  men  of  sorrow.     Perfection^ 
through  suffering. 

Nothing  so  likens  us  to  the  example  of  Christ, 
as  suffering.  It  seems  to  be  an  inevitable  law 
arising  out  of  the  fall  of  the  old,  and  the  perfect- 
ing of  the  new  creation;  first,  that  the  second 
Adaim  ^hoijld.be  -^a  man  of  sorrows :  "  and,  next, 


CONSOLATIO.  81 

that  we  should  be  conformed  to  Him  in  this  as- 
pect of  His  perfection:  "It  became  Him  for 
whom  are  all  things,  and  by  whom  are  all  things, 
in  bringing  many  sons  unto  glory,  to  make  the 
Captain  of  their  salvation  perfect  through  suffer- 
ings." And  it  is  not  more  in  relation  to  sanctity 
than  to  sufferings,  that  St.  Paul  says  that  we 
were  predestinated  "  to  be  conformed  to  the  image 
of  His  Son,  that  he  might  be  the  first-born  among 
many  brethren  ;"  and  therefore,  "  What  son  is  he 
whom  the  father  chasteneth  not?"  and  argues 
that  to  be  free  from  chastisement,  is  an  awful 
exception,  rather  to  be  feared  than  coveted,  as 
clouding  the  bright  though  keen  tokens  of  son- 
ship,  which  are  seen  in  them  that  suffer.  There 
is  a  breadth  and  universality  in  this  reasoning 
which  seems  to  force  upon  us  the  conviction,  that 
no  true  member  of  His  body,  who  was  made  per- 
fect through  sufferings,  shall  pass  out  of  life  with- 
out at  some  time  drinking  of  the  cup  that  He 
drank  of,  and  being  baptized  with  the  baptism 
that  He  was  baptized  with.  And,  indeed,  if  we 
look  into  the  lives  of  His  saints,  we  shall  see  that 
this  is  simply  true.  All  that  suffer  are  not  there- 
fore saints.  Alas !  far  from  it,  for  many  suffer 
without  the  fruits  of  sanctity ;  but  all  saints,  in 
some  one  time,  and  some  way  and  measure,  have 
entered  into  the  mystery  of  suffering.  And  this 
throws  light  upon  a  very  perplexing  thought  in 
6 


82  CONSOLATIO. 

which  we  sometimes  entangle  ourselves :  I  mean 
the  wonderful  fact,  that  oftentimes  the  same  per- 
sons are  as  visibly  marked  by  sorrow  as  by  sanc- 
tity. We  often  see  the  holiest  of  Christ's  servants 
afflicted  with  a  depth  and  multiplication  of  suffer- 
ings beyond  other  men.  They  seem  never  to 
pass  out  of  the  shadow  of  affliction  :  no  sooner  is 
one  gone  off  than  another  has  come  up;  "the 
clouds  return  after  the  rain ;"  sorrow  gathers  unto 
sorrow;  sickness  gives  way  before  sickness;  fears 
are  thrust  out  by  fears ;  anxieties  are  only  lost  in 
anxieties ;  they  seem  to  be  a  mark  for  all  the 
storms  and  sorrows  of  adversity;  the  world 
esteems  them  to  be  "  stricken,  smitten  of  God, 
and  afflicted :"  even  religious  people  are  perplexed 
at  their  trials.  When  we  see  eminently  holy  per- 
sons suddenly  bereaved,  or  suffering  sharp  bodily 
anguish,  and  their  trials  long  drawn  out,  or  mul- 
tiplied by  succession,  we  often  say,  "  How  strange 
and  dark  is  this  dispensation  !  Who  would  have 
thought  that  one  so  pure,  so  patient,  and  resigned, 
should  have  been  so  visited  and  overwhelmed  by 
strokes?  If  they  had  been  slack,  or  lukewarm, 
or  backward,  or  self-willed,  or  entangled  in  world- 
ly affections,  we  could  better  reach  the  meaning 
of  this  mysterious  trial ;  but  who  more  earnest 
and  useful  in  all  good  works ;  who  so  advanced 
in  holiness,  so  nigh  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven  as 
they?"    And  yet  all  this  shows  how  shallow  and 


CONSOLATIO.  ^ 

blind  our  faith  is ;  for  we  know  little  even  of  those 
we  know  best;  we  readily  overrate  their  charac- 
ters ;  at  all  events,  it  is  far  otherwise  in  the  esteem 
of  God  than  in  our  judgment :  our  thoughts  are 
not  His  thoughts  ;  we  set  up  a  poor,  dim,  depress- 
ed standard  of  perfection ;  and  we  should  miser- 
ably defraud  even  those  we  love  most,  if  it  were 
in  our  power  to  mete  out  their  trials  by  our 
measures  :  we  little  know  what  God  is  doing,  and 
how  can  we  know  the  way  ?  And  we  often  think 
the  sorrows  of  the  saints  are  sent  for  their  punish- 
ment, when  they  are  sent  for  their  perfection. 
Either  way  we  are  greatly  ignorant.  They  may 
need  far  more  of  purification  than  we  think;  they 
may  be  suffering  for  an  end  higher  than  purifica- 
tion,—  for  some  end  which  includes  purification 
and  unknown  mysteries  besides.  We  forget  that 
Christ  suffered,  and  why ;  and  how  He  learned 
obedience,  and  what  that  obedience  was.  He 
was  all-pure ;  suffering  could  find  no  more  to 
cleanse,  than  sin  could  find  to  fasten  upon.  The 
Prince  of  this  world  "had  nothing"  in  Him,  yet 
whose  sorrow  is  like  unto  His  sorrow,  "  where- 
with the  Lord  afflicted"  Him  "  in  the  day  of  his 
fierce  anger?" — and  that,  (great  as  the  mystery 
must  ever  be,)  not  only  and  altogether  as  a  vica- 
rious suffering,  but  that  in  the  truth  of  our  man- 
hood. He  might  learn  "  obedience  by  the  things 
that  he  suffered."     He  was  made  "perfect"  by 


ggt  CONSOLATIO. 

sufferings,  and  that  perfection,  whatsoever  it  be, 
has  an  ineffable  depth  of  meaning.  It  was  not 
only  a  sacerdotal  perfection,  by  consecration  to 
the  priesthood  of  Melchisedec,  but  something  of 
which  that  was  the  formal  expression  and  mani- 
festation ;  a  great  spiritual  reality ;  a  perfection 
of  holiness,  knowledge,  obedience,  will,  and  sym- 
pathy :  this  was  the  perfection,  in  truth  and 
spirit,  of  "  the  one  mediator  between  God  and 
man,  the  man  Christ  Jesus;"  and  of  this  perfec- 
tion, after  the  measures  of  a  creature,  and  the 
proportions  of  our  mere  manhood,  are  the  saints 
made  to  partake ;  they  are  purified,  that  they 
may  be  perfect :  and  therefore  the  sorrows  of  the 
holiest  minds  are  the  highest  approaches  to  the 
mind  of  Christ,  and  are  full  of  a  meaning  which 
is  dark  to  us  only  from  its  exceeding  brightness. 
Our  weak  faith,  which  can  read  the  earlier  teach- 
ing of  affliction,  goes  blind  when  it  follows  the 
mystery  of  sorrow  upward  to  the  perfection  of 
Christ. 

And  therefore,  when  we  look  at  the  sufferings 
of  pure  and  holy  minds,  let  us  rather  stand  m 
awe  as  being  called  to  behold,  as  it  were,  a 
shadow  of  our  Redeemers  sorrows.  The  holier 
they  are  that  suffer,  the  higher  is  the  end  for 
which  they  are  afflicted.  It  may  be  they  are 
learning  inscrutable  things  of  the  same  order  with 
those  which   the  Apostle  saw  in  ecstasy.     Even 


CONSOLATIO.  85 

with  bleeding  hearts  and  deep-drawn  prayers  for 
their  consolation,  let  us  try  to  believe  that  God  is 
endowing  them  with  surpassing  tokens  of  love, 
and  with  pledges  of  exceeding  glory. 

And  for  ourselves,  let  us  be  sure  when  we 
suffer,  that  for  chastisement  and  for  purification 
we  need  more  a  thousand  fold  than  all  He  lays 
upon  us.  The  heaviest  and  the  sharpest  of  our 
sorrows  is  only  just  enough  to  heal  us.  "  He 
doth  not  willingly  afflict."  Let  us  remember, 
too,  that  sufferings  do  not  sanctify  ;  they  are  only 
seasons  of  sanctification ;  their  end  will  be  for 
good  or  ill,  as  we  bear  and  as  we  use  them :  they 
are  no  more  than  times  of  invitation  to  diligent 
toil,  like  the  softness  of  the  earth  after  a  keen  and 
piercing  shower  :  they  hold  in  check,  for  a  time, 
our  spiritual  faults,  and  prepare  our  hearts  to  re- 
ceive and  to  retain  deeper  and  sharper  impres- 
sions of  the  likeness  of  our  Lord.  Let  us  count 
them  precious,  blessed  seasons,  though  dim  and 
overcast ;  seasons  of  promise  and  of  springing 
freshness,  tokens  of  His  nearness  and  purpose  to 
cleanse  us  for  His  own.  "  Blessed  are  ye  that 
weep  now."  He  that  is  greatly  tried,  if  he  be 
learning  obedience,  is  not  far  from  the  kingdom 
of  God.  Our  heavenly  Father  is  perfecting  His 
work  in  us,  laying  in  the  last  touches  with  His 
wise  and  gentle  hand.  He  that  perfected  His 
own  Son  through  sufferings,  has  brought  many 


9d  CONSOLATIO, 

sons  to  glory  by  the  same  rough  road,  even  by 
the  "  way  that  is  desert."  He  is  bringing  you 
home  to  Himself.  Do  not  shrink,  because  the 
path  is  broken  and  solitary,  for  the  way  is  short, 
and  the  end  is  blessed. 


The  mistakes  of  suffering. 

Let  us  learn  what  is  the  true  point  of  sight 
from  which  to  look  at  all  the  trials  of  life.  We 
hear  people  perpetually  lamenting,  uttering  pas- 
sionate expressions  of  grief  at  visitations  which 
they  say  have  come  upon  them  unlooked-for,  and 
stunned  them  by  their  suddenness :  one  has  lost 
his  possessions,  another  his  health,  another  his 
powers  of  sight  or  hearing,  another  "the  desire 
of  his  eyes,"  parents,  children,  husbands,  wives, 
friends ;  each  sorrowing  for  their  own,  and  all 
alike  viewing  their  affliction  from  the  narrow 
point  of  their  own  isolated  being;  they  seem  to 
be  hostile  invasions  of  their  peace,  mutilations  of 
the  integrity  of  their  lot,  untimely  disruptions  of 
their  fondest  ties,  and  the  like.  Much  as  we 
speak  of  violent  deviations  of  nature  from  her 
laws,  and  of  the  mysterious  agency  of  devastat- 
ing powers,  so  we  talk  of  the  destruction  of  our 
fortune,  the  breaking  up  of  our  happiness,  the 


CONSOLATIO.  87 

wreck  of  our  hopes.  Now  all  this  loose  and  faith- 
less language  arises  from  our  not  recognizing  the 
great  law  to  which  all  these  are  to  be  referred. 
It  is  no  more  than  this:  that  God  is  disposing  of 
what  has  been  offered  up  to  Him  in  sacrifice ;  as, 
for  instance,  when  a  father  or  mother  bewails  the 
taking  away  of  a  child,  have  they  not  forgotten 
that  he  was  not  their  own?  Did  they  not  offer 
him  at  the  font  1  Did  not  God  promise  to  receive 
their  oblation?  What  has  He  done  more  than 
taken  them  at  their  word  ?  They  prayed  that 
He  would  make  their  child  to  be  His  "own  child 
by  adoption ; "  and  He  has  not  only  heard,  but 
answered  their  prayers.  Have  they  not  perpetu. 
ally,  since  that  day,  asked  for  him  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  even  as  the  mother  of  Zebedee's  chil- 
dren came  and  besought  that  her  two  sons  might 
sit,  the  one  on  his  right  hand,  and  the  other  on 
his  left,  in  his  kingdom  ?  Like  them,  they  knew 
not  what  they  asked;  they  were  desiring  a  high 
blessing,  awful  in  its  height ;  for  which,  if  grant- 
ed, they  may  have  to  go  sorrowing  because  God 
has  heard  their  prayer,  and  a  sword  has  pierced 
through  their  own  soul  also.  In  an  especial  man- 
ner this  seems  true  of  the  death  of  infants ;  they  » 
were  offered  up  to  Him,  and  He  took  them  to 
Himself.  So  that  they  be  His,  who  dare  lament 
that  He  has  chosen  the  place  where  they  shall 
stand  and  minister  before  Him  ?     Little,  it  may 


SI  CONSOLATIO. 

be,  the  glad  mother  thought  as  she  stood  beside 
the  font,  what  she  was  then  doing;  little  did  she 
forecast  what  was  to  come,  or  read  the  meaning  of 
her  own  acts  and  prayers.  And  so  likewise,  when 
any  true  servants  of  Christ  are  taken  away,  what 
is  it  but  a  token  of  His  favourable  acceptance 
of  their  self-oblation?  They  have  been  His  from 
baptism,  and  He  has  granted  them  a  long  season 
of  tarrying  in  this  outer  court  of  His  temple.  But 
now,  at  length,  the  time  is  come ;  and  when  we 
see  them  "  bow  the  head,  and  give  up  the  ghost," 
is  it  not  our  slowness  of  heart  that  makes  even 
our  eyes  also  to  be  holden,  so  as  not  to  see  who 
is  standing  nigh,  conforming  them  to  His  own 
great  sacrifice?  While  they  were  with  us  they 
were  not  ours,  but  His :  they  were  permitted  to 
abide  with  us,  and  to  gladden  our  hearts  awhile ; 
but  they  were  living  sacrifices,  and  ever  at  the 
point  of  being  caught  up  to  heaven. 

And  so,  lastly,  in  all  that  befalls  ourselves,  we 
too  are  not  our  own,  but  His ;  all  that  we  call 
ours  is  His ;  and  when  He  takes  it  from  us  — 
first  one  loved  treasure,  then  another,  till  He 
makes  us  poor,  and  naked,  and  solitary  —  let  us 
•  not  sorrow  that  we  are  stripped  of  all  we  love, 
but  rather  rejoice  for  that  God  accepts  us  :  let  us 
not  think  that  we  are  left  here,  as  it  were, 
unseasonably  alone,  but  remember  that,  by  our 
bereavements,  we  are  in  part  translated  to  the 


CONSOLATIO.  S9 

world  unseen.  He  is  calling  us  away,  and  send- 
ing on  our  treasures.  The  great  law  of  sacrifice 
is  embracing  us,  and  must  have  its  perfect  work. 
Like  Him,  we  must  be  made  "perfect  through 
suffering.  "  Let  us  pray  Him,  therefore,  to  shed 
abroad  in  us  the  mind  that  was  in  Christ;  that 
our  will  being  crucified,  we  may  offer  up  our- 
selves to  be  disposed  of  as  He  sees  best,  whether 
for  joy  or  sorrow,  blessing  or  chastisement ;  to  be 
high  or  low,  to  be  slighted  or  esteemed,  to  be  full 
or  to  suffer,  much,  to  have  many  friends  or  to 
dwell  in  a  lonely  home;  to  be  passed  by,  or  call- 
ed to  serve  Him  and  His  kingdom  in  our  own 
land,  or  among  people  of  a  strange  tongue;  to  be, 
to  go,  to  do,  to  suffer,  even  as  He  wills,  even  as 
He  ordains,  even  as  Christ  endured,  "who, 
through  the  eternal  Spirit,  offered  Himself  with- 
out spot  to  God."     Amen. 


Ephphatha,  the  meaning  of  our  Saviour'^s  sigh. 

But  why,  when  He  used  the  word  of  healing, 
did  He  accompany  it  with  that  sigh?  ^  We  may 
ask  the  same  question  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus. 
Why  did  He  weep  when  He  stood  by  the  dead 

1  "  And  looking  up  to  heaven  He  sighed,  and  saith  unto  him, 
Ephphatha."— St.  Mark,  vii.  34. 


gl  CONSOLATIO. 

man's  grave,  or  sigh  when  He  looked  upon  the 
deaf  man's  barred  ears?  Why  did  He  weep 
when  He  was  going  to  make  the  dead  man  hve, 
or  sigh  when  He  was  going  to  make  the  deaf  man 
hear? 

The  answer  is  not  a  difficult  one.  It  was  His 
profound  sense  of  the  woes  of  man  that  so  affected 
Him.  To  us,  the  restoration  of  voice  or  of  life  to 
the  dumb  or  the  dead  is  so  great  a  thing,  that  it 
overspreads  our  souls  with  the  brightest  sunshine. 
If  we  have  some  dear  friend  visited  with  any 
grievous  defect,  and  God  supplies  it,  we  are  over- 
whelmed with  joy  ;  or  if  one  whom  we  love,  per- 
haps as  life  itself,  might  seem  to  be  hanging  over 
the  grave,  and  about  to  drop  into  it,  and  then 
God  should  rebuke  the  disease,  and  give  us  good 
hope  of  restoration,  our  joy  would  be  almost 
excessive.  How  different  was  Jesus  !  He  saw 
in  His  own  mind  both  voice  and  hearing  already 
restored  to  the  poor  deaf  stammerer,  yet  He  sigh- 
ed; He  saw  the  flame  of  life  already  rekindled 
in  the  death-cold  bosom  of  Lazarus,  and  yet  He 
wept.  Why,  then,  again,  did  He  sigh  ?  and  why 
did  He  weep?  My  brethren,  it  was  not  one  poor 
stammerer  that  He  came  to  give  speech  to,  nor 
one  cold  corpse  that  He  came  to  revive.  "  I  am 
the  Resurrection  and  the  Life^ "  were  his  own 
great  words  as  He  stood  over  the  grave  at  Beth- 
any.    He  looked  over  the  countless  dead,  whom 


CONSOLATIO.  91 

sin  had  slain,  and  what  was  the  restoration  of  life 
to  one  poor  body,  of  all  that  host?  He  looked 
over  the  countless  families  whom  death  had  made 
desolate,  and  what  was  the  consolation  of  one 
little  circle,  when  so  many  myriads  of  mourners 
remained  1    Therefore  He  wept. 

^       "  O'erwhelming  thoughts  of  pain  and  grief 
,  Over  his  sinking  spirit  sweep  :  • 

What  boots  it  gathering  one  lost  leaf 
Out  of  yon  sere  and  wither'd  heap, 
Where  souls  and  bodies,  hopes  and  joys, 
AH  that  earth  owns,  or  sin  destroys. 
Under  the  spurning  hoof  are  cast, 
Or  tossing  in  th'  autumnal  blast !"  i 

This  was  the  reason  of  the  tears  and  the  sighs 
of  the  Son  of  Man. 

He  looked  all  down  the  dreadful  stream  of 
human  suffering.  He  saw,  —  it  was  a  mighty 
part,  perhaps  the  very  mightiest  part  of  his  Pas- 
sion, —  He  saw  clearly  before  Him  the  congregat- 
ed miseries  of  man ;  He  saw  the  strong  bowed 
down  by  weakness,  the  healthy  wasting  away  by 
the  slow  poison-juice  of  mortality;  He  saw  many 
a  babe  diseased  from  the  very  womb,  and  instead 
of  the  bright  eye,  and  the  active  limb,  and  the 
quick  ear  and  bell-like  voice  of  childhood,  — visit- 
ed with  the  dark  orb,  the  crippled  member ;  deaf, 

*  The  Christiau  Year. 


93  CONSOLATIO. 

or  a  stammerer.  He  saw  the  perfection  of  human 
beauty  consumed  by  some  dreadful  disease,  like 
a  moth  fretting  a  lovely  garment.  He  saw  the 
solitary  chamber,  and  He  heard  the  stifled  sobs 
of  ten  thousand  mourners,  and  the  cry  of  agony 
which  the  poor  sufferer  could  not  repress,  and  the 
racking  pain  which  she  could  not  —  which  she 
could  scarcely,  even  with  thy  mighty  aid,  O 
Jesus,  bear !  Such  was  the  dreadful  vision  which 
the  Son  of  Man  beheld;  a  dark,  wide,  rolling 
stream  of  tears,  and  sighs,  and  misery ;  a  river  of 
the  waters  of  the  blackness  of  death. 

And  there  is  solid  comfort  in  this  view  of  the 
character  of  our  blessed  Saviour.  What  made 
Him  sigh  then,  makes  Him  sympathize  now. 
The  heart  of  Jesus  is  not  changed :  He  has  carried 
His  human  body*  to  heaven,  and  there,  with  His 
wounded  hands  and  wounded  feet,  and  pierced 
heart  flowing  down  with  water  and  with  blood, 
He  pities,  and  He  pleads  for  man.  He  is  our 
sacrificing  and  sympathizing  Priest;  Himself  the 
sacrifice,  for  He  lies  like  a  Lamb  slain  upon  the 
high  altar  of  heaven  ;  Himself  the  Priest,  that  in 
the  linen  garments  of  our  humanity  offers  up,  in 
prevailing  intercession  and  perfect  sympathy,  the 
prayers  and  the  tears  of  His  people,  and  per- 
fumes them  with  the  fragrant  incense  of  His  own 
merits. 

*  See  ivth  Article  of  Religion,  in  "  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer." 


CONSOLATIO.  93 

Oh,  what  a  consolation !  The  sigh  that  rose 
that  day  from  the  shores  of  Gennesareth  to  heaven, 
—  it  is  the  very  panacea  for  sorrow.  No  heart 
can  be  perfectly  desolate  while  that  sigh  is  audi- 
ble. We  may  lose  every  thing  we  love ;  but  if 
we  think  of  Him  who  loved  what  we  loved,  ten 
thousand  times  better  than  we  could  ever  love  it ; 
if  we  think  that  He  possesses  what  we  have  lost; 
and  if  we  know,  (and  know  we  do,)  that  He  looks 
now,  not  up  to  heaven,  but  down  to  earth,  and 
sends  upon  our  beating  hearts  the  cool  wind  of 
that  most  tranquillizing  sigh ;  if  we  know  this  all 
to  be  true,  all  a  perfect  reality,  Jesus  to  be  quite 
near  us,  as  near  us  as  our  grief  is  near,  and  un- 
failing in  sympathy,  and  matchless  in  His  heal- 
ing power;  then,  suffer  as  we  may,  sigh  as  we 
may,  and  be  as  desolate  as  we  can  be  conceived 
to  be,  yet  are  our  sighs,  and  our  tears,  and  our 
desolation,  all  but  means  for  our  more  complete 
cure;  very  avenues  of  blessing;  channels  cut  out 
in  the  hard  rocks  of  our  stony  hearts,  only  that 
the  grace  of  His  sympathy  may  more  completely 
fill  and  refresh  them. 

We  are  told  that  previously  to  performing  this 
cure,  our  blessed  Lord  took  this  poor  stammerer 
aside. 

There  is  a  meaning  in  this  for  us  all.  It  is  in 
loneliness,  in  our  solitary  chamber,  or  in  some 
season  of  more  than  ordinary  calm  and  privacy, 


§4  CONSOLATIO. 

that  God  often  deals  with  the  soul.  The  world 
is  noisy  and  feverish,  and  agitating,  and  over- 
powers us  with  its  many  voices,  and  with  the 
din  and  tumult  of  its  stunning  cares.  We  can 
scarcely  hear  the  soft  whisper  of  the  Son  of  Man 
amid  that  tumultuous  uproar;  we  can  scarcely 
distinguish  His  form  amid  the  pressing  crowds 
that  are  about  us.  It  is  good  to  be  alone  with 
God  and  his  Christ;  so  good,  that  when  we  are 
too  mad  for  company.  He  often  Himself  builds  up 
some  high  wall  of  separation,  or  puts  us  in  some 
lonely  house  of  death,  that  we  may  be  compelled 
to  listen. 

If  such  has  been  His  dealing  with  you;  if  you 
have  been  taken  away  for  a  time  by  any  calami- 
ty from  the  busier  hum  and  haunts  of  life,  it  is  He 
that  has  thus  removed  you.  Has  His  object  been 
answered?  Have  you  felt  His  finger  upon  you? 
Has  healing  virtue  gone  out  of  His  mouth  to 
bless  you  ?  Have  your  ears  been  opened  7  Has 
the  string  of  your  stammering  tongue  been 
loosed  ?  Can  you  now  hear,  and  speak,  and  sing 
of  Christ  ? 

When  you  go  into  your  silent  chamber,  ask 
Him  to  bless  you,  as  He  did  the  poor  deaf  man. 
When  you  go  down  by  the  sea-shore,  and  see 
the  "little  ships"  all  drawing  their  lines  of  light 
along  its  blue  bosom,  and  the  fishermen  spreading 
their  nets,  think  of  the  sea  of  Tiberias,  and  the 
boats  of  Peter  and  of  the  sons  of  Zebedee,  and  of 


/  CONSOLATIO.  95 

Jesus,  and  the  crowds  that  Hstened  to  Him,  and 
the  words  He  spake,  and  the  wonders  He  per- 
formed. Bring  all  your  maladies  to  Him.  Pre- 
sent the  cases  of  your  sick  friends,  or  your  young, 
happy,  joyous  children  to  Him.  He  stands  there, 
we  may  almost  say,  to  bless  you.  He  stands 
there,  that  you  may  come  and  seek  His  blessing. 
Look  earnestly  towards  Him ;  try  to  realize  His 
presence ;  court  solitude,  that  you  may  have  His 
company;  stand  apart  from  the  multitude,  that 
He  may  come  and  converse  with  you;  do  not 
shrink  from  a  lonely  chamber,  for  He  has  cleared 
it  that  He  may  Himself  come  in ;  and  if  you  feel 
that  you  hear  but  little  of  the  deep  harmonies 
that  fill  creation,  and  if  hearing  but  little,  you 
only  stammer  when  you  attempt  to  utter  them, 
look  up  to  Him  who  stands  over  you  with  the 
same  matchless  power,  and  the  same  ineffable 
love;  and  He  (be  assured) as  He  poured  upon  the 
deaf  stammerer's  tongue  the  music  of  speech,  will 
fill  your  souls  to  their  utmost  depths  with  the 
harmonies  of  praise. 


If  chastisement  is  a  token  of  God's  love,  why 
should  I  faint  under  it,  or  so  much  as  desire 
release  from  it,  till  it  has  done  its  work  ?  I  must 
suffer  and  die ;  with  the  help  of  God,  I  will  suffer 
and  die.  "*" 


CONSOLATIO. 


The  Christian  in  trial.,  a  spectacle. 

The  Christian  prays  for  fuller  manifestations  of 
Christ's  power  and  glory,  and  love  to  Him ;  but 
he  is  often  not  aware  that  this  is,  in  truth,  pray- 
ing to  be  brought  into  the  furnace ;  for  in  the 
furnace  only  it  is  that  Christ  can  walk  with  His 
friends,  and  display  in  their  preservation  and  de- 
liverance His  own  Almighty  power ;  yet,  when . 
brought  thither,  it  is  one  of  the  worst  parts  of  the 
trial,  that  the  Christian  often  thinks  himself,  for 
a  time,  at  least,  abandoned.  Job  thought  so;  but, 
while  he  looked  on  himself  as  an  outcast,  the  In- 
finite Spirit  and  the  wicked  spirit  were  holding  a 
dialogue  on  his  case  !  He  was  more  an  object  of 
notice  and  interest  than  the  largest  armies  that 
were  ever  assembled,  and  the  mightiest  revolu- 
tions that  ever  shook  the  world,  considered  merely 
in  their  temporal  interests  and  consequences. 
Let  the  Christian  be  deeply  concerned,  in  all  his 
trials,  to  honour  his  Master  before  such  observers. 


Prayers  for  lioliness  answered  ly  sorrow. 

God's  way  of  answering  the  Christian's  prayer 
for  an  increase  of  patience,  experience,  hope,  and 
love,  usually  is  to  put  him  into  the  furnace  of  tri- 


CONSOLATIO.  97 

bulation.  St.  James  therefore  says,  "  Count  it  all 
joy  when  ye  fall  into  divers  temptations.^''  People 
of  the  world  '■'^  count  it  all  joy  ^^  when  they  are  in 
ease  and  affluence,  but  a  Christian  is  taught  to 
'■^  count  it  all  joy  ^^  when  he  is  tried  as  gold  in  the 
fire. 


A  time  of  need^  a  time  of  prayer,  and  of  refreshment. 

When  th6  privations  of  life  have  diminished  the 
objects  of  social  happiness  ;  when  death  has  dried 
up  the  fountains  which  run  freely  with  their  clear 
and  salutary  waters ;  when  pain  and  disease  have 
altered  the  character  of  existence,  and  changed 
the  scene  of  hilarity,  and  buoyancy,  and  activity, 
into  the  scene  of  suffering,  inactivity,  patience, 
and  abstraction  from  the  previous  intercourse  of 
life  J  then  to  go  to  the  throne  of  grace,  and  to 
draw  closer  the  ties  which  no  privation,  nor  suf- 
fering, nor  vicissitude,  can  dissolve;  this  is  to  con- 
nect "a  time  of  need"  with  the  best  and  brightest 
manifestations  of  mercy  and  grace  to  the  soul ! 
Many  may  be  the  hours  of  comparative  repinings 
and  of  wounded  hopes,  and  of  unhealthy  wander- 
ings of  mind  ;  but  these  are  sometimes  exchanged 
for  hours  passed  at  the  throne  of  grace,  to  which 
no  eye  but  that  of  God  is  witness ;  hours  when 
7 


98  CONSOLATIO. 

Christ  speaks,  and  pain  and  sorrow  are  forgotten; 
hours,  when  cut  off  from  the  din  of  hfe,  and  sepa- 
rated from  friends,  and  left  alone  with  God,  every 
murmuring  is  yet  hushed,  and  every  privation  is 
repaid !  —  hours  when  the  manifestation  of  the 
Redeemer's  glory  to  the  soul  has  shed  a  calm  and 
a  blissful  radiance  around  every  prospect,  and 
proved  the  earnest  of  that  better  heritage  which 
is  "incorruptible  and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth 
not  away." 

Believer  in  Christ !  mark  well  the  grounds  upon 
which  the  efficacy  of  thy  prayer  depends  ;  thy 
very  cry  of  guilt  and  sorrow  is  the  result  of  the 
Spirit  whose  habitation  thou  art.  Thou  art  the 
property  of  God,  and  under  the  sure  protection  of 
Jesus  thou  wilt  reach  thy  eternal  home.  Pray 
then  in  faith.  Consider  thy  great  High  Priest ; 
think  of  the  virtue  of  His  blood,  and  of  the  preva- 
lency  of  His  intercession.  Come  boldly  to  His 
throne  of  grace;  unfold  all  thy  heart;  lay  bare  to 
Him  its  guilt,  defilement,  weakness  and  incon- 
stancy. Implore  mercy  with  incessant  repetition 
of  anxiety.  "  In  every  time  of  need  seek  grace  to 
help."  Jesus  Christ  knows  all  thy  wants,  and 
"has  received  gifts,"  that  "out  of  His  fulness 
thou  shouldst  receive  grace  for  grace."  He  has 
opened  the  way  to  God  ;  He  has  unbarred  the 
gates  of  acceptance ;  He  has  overcome  death,  and 
hell,  and  sin,  and  He  bids  thee  "  be  of  good  cheer." 


CONSOLATIO.  99 

Come,  then,  with  holy  confidence,  into  his  sanc- 
tuary; attach  the  highest  value  to  prayer ;  deem 
it  to  be  thy  best  preservative  from  sin,  and  thy 
best  antidote  to  sorrow.  Expect  large  and  full 
relief  at  the  throne  of  grace.  Retreat  from  the 
accusations  of  conscience,  from  the  stern  voices  of 
the  law,  from  the  calumnies  of  men,  from  the 

'malice  of  Satan,  from  the  fears  and  inconstancy 
of  thine  own  heart ;  retreat  from  all  these  enemies, 
and  take  thy  shelter  within  the  sanctuary  of  the 
Lord.  Thou  hast  an  heritage  in  the  heart  of 
Christ;  thy  name  is  written  there,  and  "thou 
shalt  never  be  forgotten."  His  love  cannot  change, 
nor  can  His  knowledge  of  thy  case  be  at  any  time 
obscure.  He  knows  all ;  He  feels  all ;  He  will 
succour  all. 
Never  canst  thou  know  His  inexhaustible  kind- 

*  ness.  No  human  conception  can  grasp  the  mighty 
mystery  of  His  covenant  love  !  But  depend,  con- 
fide, petition,  pray ;  be  ever  a  suppliant  at  the 
throne  of  grace.  Thou  art  as  much  the  object  of 
His  tender  care  as  if  thou  wert  His  lone  child  in 
the  universe  of  nature  !  Cast,  then,  thy  burden 
upon  Him,  and  say,  with  a  joy  unspeakable,  and 
full  of  glory,  "The  Lord  is  my  shepherd,  I  shall 
not  want." 


100  CONSOLATIO. 


Effect  of  the  death  and  burial  of  Christ  upon  death., 
and  the  place  of  the  dead. 

Here,  in  the  grave  of  Christ,  our  souls,  being 
planted  in  the  likeness  of  His  death,  shall  be 
planted  in  the  likeness  of  His  resurrection  also ; 
and  it  is  the  same  with  our  bodies.  His  death  is 
the  life  of  our  souls,  and  of  our  bodies  also,  by  His 
quickening  Spirit.  This  His  body  is  that  seed  of 
which  He  spake  in  the  deep  groaning^  of  His  suf- 
fering soul,  which,  if  it  die,  shall  not  abide  alone, 
but  bring  forth  many  seeds  like  unto  itself;  for 
our  vile  body,  if  we  be  buried  with  Him.  shall  be 
fashioned  like  unto  His  glorious  body.  Here, 
therefore,  must  we  come,  not  only  that  we  may 
learn  to  live,  but  also  that  we  may  learn  to  die, 
and  to  contemplate  with  comfort  the  death  of  our  ' 
friends ;  for  here  may  we  be  not  only  dead  with 
Him,  but  in  Him  also ;  dead  in  some  sense,  with 
the  faithful  departed.  It  is  here  with  Christ  that 
we  learn  to  reflect  on  the  death  of  our  friends, 
and  on  our  own,  with  peace  and  consolation,  and 
in  the  depth  of  His  grave  to  learn  Christian  hope. 

Here  the  solemn  calm  of  the  great  Sabbath  hath 
already  begun.  In  the  deep  stillness  which  is 
here  exchanged  for  the  anxieties  and  agonies,  and 
the  feverish  passions  and  excitement  of  the  scene 
that  has  passed,  we  seem  to  participate  in  the 


CONSOLATIO.  101 

awful  calm  of  death ;  and  as  in  life  we  mingle 
and  blend  our  sympathies  with  the  condition  and 
state  of  our  friends,  and  borrow  their  feelingS;  so 
in  this  calm  we  seem  to  partake  of  the  stillness  of 
those  souls  which  are  released  from  the  body  in 
that  place,  "  where  the  wicked  cease  from  troub- 
ling, and  the  weary  are  at  rest."  And  if  this  calm 
is  so  striking,  contrasted  with  that  which  is  past, 
still  greater  is  that  feeling  of  stillness  in  death 
when  we  contrast  it  with  that  which  is  to  come, 
the  great  i;^orning  of  the  resurrection  ;  deep  is  the 
suspense  that  watches  in  that  awful  expectation; 
here  is  that  night  of  which  our  Lord  spake,  where- 
in no  man  can  work :  He  hath  done  our  work  for 
us ;  our  righteousness  is  no  longer  of  works,  but 
we  may  rest  in  Him. 

Blessed,  therefore,  is  this  grave,  because  we 
therein  approach  to  the  dead  in  Christ,  and  be- 
cause this  is  the  home  where  we  ourselves  shall 
have  to  dwell;  for  we,  too,  shall  soon  have  to 
make  our  bed  in  the  dark,  and  the  grave  shall 
close  its  doors  about  us  ;  and  before  then  it  is  the 
home  of  our  buried  affections,  the  house  of  all 
living.  Here  might  one  pourtray  human  nature 
itself  sitting  ti  a  tomb,  for  our  life  is  a  continual 
bereavement,  and  as  soon  as  we  begin  to  know 
affection,  we  begin  to  mourn  the  loss  of  it.  No 
one  can  have  lived  for  any  time  in  the  world,  but 
his  best  treasures  and  his  best  affections  must  be 


IM-  CONSOLATIO. 

with  the  dead ;  and  there  is  no  reflecting  person 
who  does  not  find  that  those  parts  of  his  hfe,  in 
which  he  sinks  most  deeply  into  himself  and  the 
knowledge  of  his  condition,  are  made  up  of  those 
hours  of  stillness  and  solitude,  where  he  seems  to 
sit  at  the  grave  of  those  who  were  once  like  him- 
self, full  of  the  same  thoughts,  and  feelings,  and 
afiections.  Stillness  and  solitude  is  of  itself  like 
a  holy  sanctuary,  wherein  he  seems  to  draw  near 
to  them ;  it  is  that  in  which  they  are  ever  found ; 
and  to  draw  near  to  them  is  to  draw ^ way  from 
the  world  ;  for  wherever  it  is  that  the  faithful  de- 
parted are,  we  know  that  to  be  with  them  is  to  be 
with  Christ. 

So  much  is  this  contemplation  for  our  soul's 
health  in  the  school  of  Divine  wisdom,  that  in 
order  to  withdraw  us  from  the  stir  and  business 
of  this  world,  God  has  appointed  the  continual 
returns  of  night,  wherein  we  may  be  as  in  the 
midst  of  the  grave,  in  darkness,  in  stillness,  and 
in  solitude ;  in  order  that  He  may  so  recall  and 
admonish  us,  every  night,  of  the  solitude  and  still- 
ness, and  darkness  of  the  grave.  For  in  that 
return  of  night,  wherein  we  are  continually  thus 
laid,  He  has  forced  upon  us,  who  are  so  unwilling 
to  learn,  the  daily  contemplation  of  our  latter 
end;  —  of  this,  the  death  of  Christ,  which  sancti- 
fies and  blesses  that  end,  and  of  the  necessity  of 
bein|;  conformed  thereto.     For  night  is  nothing 


CONSOLATIO.  103 

else  but  the  due  and  -necessary  preparation  for  the 
morning ;  and  that  morning  is  the  great  morning 
of  the  Resurrection,  and  the  coming  of  Christ. 
And  so  intimately  is  the  consideration  of  this  great 
morning  connected  with  the  sleep  of  Christ  in  the 
grave,  that  the  early  Christians  used  to  keep  the 
night  of  our  Lord's  rising  from  the  grave  in  prayer 
and  watching,  in  expectation  of  His  return,  in 
that  same  night,  to  Judgment.  Let  us,  through- 
out the  night  of  this  world,  be  busied  thus  with 
Christ,  and  .watching  for  His  return. 

•^  T^f  "f.  ^fr  ^7^ 

But  the  dead  body  of  Christ  is  left  here  lifeless 
and  untenanted,  not  only  that  His  dead  body  may 
sanctify  death,  but  that  His  spotless  soul  may 
sanctify  the  place  of  the  dead.  One  sacrificial 
animal,  the  sin-offering,  is  dead  in  our  hands ; 
but  the  other  has  escaped,  and  gone  into  the  wil- 
derness, bearing  sin.*  If  the  earth  is  hallowed 
and  preserved  from  corruption  because  the  sinless 
Son  of  man  hath  once  made  it  His  abode,  and  the 
flesh  His  tabernacle,  no  less  must  the  place  of  the 
departed  have  derived  some  great  blessing  from 
the  sojourn  of  His  righteous  soul  among  them. 
He  has  not  only  made  this  world  once  the  place 
of  His  abode,  but  has  continued  ever  since  to 
vouchsafe  His  presence  to  it  in  some  high  and 

t 

'  Levil.  xvi.  22. 


104  CONSOLATIO. 

peculiar  manner,  so  that  it  is  not  as  it  was  before. 
And  thus  also  it  is  with  the  place  of  His  saints 
that  depart  hence  in  the  Lord  ;  for  since  that  time, 
"from  henceforth  blessed  are  the  dead,"  for  the 
good  to  die  is  "  to  be  with  Christ,"  which  is  far 
better,  and  to  "sleep  in  the  Lord."  It  was  for 
this  that  the  Prophet  Isaiah  spake,  "  Bring  out 
the  prisoners  from  the  prison,  and  them  that  sit 
in  darkness  out  of  the  prison-house."  This  their 
darkness  He  has  converted  into  His  own  mar- 
vellous light.  Of  this  also  spake  the  Prophet 
Zechariah,  "  By  the  blood  of  thy  covenant  I  have 
sent  forth  thy  prisoners  out  of  the  pit,  wherein  is 
no  water.  Turn  you  to  the  strong  hold,  ye  pris- 
oners of  hope." 

Well  may  we  believe  that  place  to  be  blessed 
where  the  soul  of  Christ  hath  been.  The  great 
Italian  poet,  when  the  scene  of  his  poem  is  in  the 
abode  of  the  wicked,  is  cautious  lest  the  ever- 
blessed  Name  should  ever  there  escape,  or  be 
uttered,  in  those  regions  of  despair;  whereby  he 
meant  to  imply  that  that  awful  Name  would 
burst  asunder  the  everlasting  bars  of  that  prison- 
house.  How  much  more  may  we  suppose  that  — 
not  the  name  uttered  by  the  lips,  but  —  the  evar- 
adorable  Son  of  God,  the  soul  of  Christ  Himself, 
must  have  been  of  mighty  avail  for  good  in  the 
place  of  the  faithful  departed. 

Nay,  indeed,  even   nature   itself,  instinctively 


CONSOLATIO.  105 

would  suggest  to  us  this  lesson  of  hope ;  for  what 
reader  has  not  been  struck  with  wonder  at  Homer's 
description  of  the  place  of  the  dead,  so  expressive 
of  demerit,  and  the  expectation  of  righteous  judg- 
ment in  man,  yet  not  without  a  secret  hope  in 
God  1  That  first  and  greatest  of  poets  describes 
the  souls  of  the  dead  as  wrapt  in  mysterious 
gloom,  and  powerless  and  silent,  until  they  have 
partaken  of  the  blood  of  the  sacrifice.  Such  is 
the  voice  of  nature,  if  it  be  not  something  greater 
than  nature;  or  the  glimmering  light  of  primeval 
tradition,  that  spoke  of  the  great  Sacrifice,  in  the 
midst  of  that  spiritual  darkness,  to  them  who 
wandered  beneath  the  dim  twilight  of  the  shadow 
of  death. 

Blessed,  therefore,  is  the  thought  of  that  inter- 
mediate state  between  death  and  resurrection  ;  it 
is  in  some  especial  manner  to  be  with  Christ ; 
there  is  something  in  the  thought  very  full  of  awe 
and  trembling  joy;  it  is  also  to  be  with  Abraham 
and  all  the  dead  who  are  with  Christ,  as  they  are 
selected  and  gathered  out  of  this  evil  world.  The 
more  we  think  of  it,  and  of  those  who  have  pre- 
ceded us  there,  the  more  do  we  seem  to  approach 
them;  for  the  dwelling-place  and  movement  of 
our  minds  depends  not  on  bodily  change  of  place, 
but  on  the  thoughts  ;  we  are  there  where  our 
thoughts  are.  How  aspiring,  how  exahing,  how 
calming,  how  quickening,  how  hallowing,  is  the 


106  CONSOLATIO. 

contemplation,  that  before  the  rising  of  another 
sun  we  may  be  in  that  country  of  the  faithful 
departed  —  if  found  worthy  to  be  there! 


If  I  am  afflicted,  or  sick,  or  weak,  or  in  pain, 
let  me  not  comfort  myself  chiefly  with  thinking 
that  it  will  be  quickly  over,  or  that  I  shall  soon 
be  well,  but  rather  with  thinking  and  knowing 
that  it  is  the  appointment  of  Divine  wisdom,  — 
for  reasons  of  infinite  concernment  to  myself,  and 
for  the  end  which  God  has  chiefly  in  view  for  His 
people,  in  all  His  inflictions,  viz.  the  glory  of  His 
name  in  their  spiritual  health  and  recovery ;  and 
a  blessed  support  it  will  be  to  know  and  feel  that 
I  do  not  so  much  desire  ease  and  deliverance  from 
present  trouble,  as  grace  and  strength  to  undergo 
more  and  greater,  and  even  death  itself,  quietly, 
obediently,  in  the  spirit  of  faith,  and  with  full  ac- 
ceptance of  the  will  of  God. 


Bodily  pain,  the  Jilting  accompaniment  of  the  Christian 
state. 

Such,  then,  were  our  Lord's  sufferings,  volun- 
tarily undergone,  and  ennobled  by  an  active  obe- 
dience ;  themselves  the  centre  of  our  hopes  and 


C0x\S0LAT10.  107 

worship,  yet  borne  without  thoughts  of  self,  to- 
wards God,  and  for  man.  And  who  among  us 
habitually  dwells  upon  them,  but  is  led,  without 
deliberate  purpose,  by  the  very  warmth  of  grati- 
tude and  adoring  love,  to  attempt  bearing  his  own 
inferior  trials  in  the  same  heavenly  mind  ?  Who 
does  not  see  that  to  bear  pain  well  is  to  meet  it 
courageously  7  not  to  shrink  or  waver,  but  to  pray 
for  God's  help;  then  to  look  at  it  stedfastly,  —  to 
summon  what  nerve  we  have  of  mind  or  body  to 
meet  its  attack,  and  to  bear  up  against  it  (while 
strength  is  given  us)  as  against  some  visible  ene- 
my in  close  combat.  Who  will  not  acknowledge, 
that  when  sent  to  us,  we  must  make  its  presence, 
as  it  were,  our  own  voluntary  act,  by  the  cheer- 
ful and  ready  acquiescence  of  our  own  will  with 
the  will  of  God  7  Nay,  who  is  there  but  must 
own,  that  with  Christ's  sufferings  before  us,  pain 
and  tribulation  are,  after  all,  not  only  the  most 
blessed,  but  even  the  most  congruous  attendants 
upon  those  who  are  called  to  inherit  the  benefit 
of  them  7  Most  congruous,  I  say,  not  as  though 
necessary,  but  as  most  natural  and  befitting;  har- 
monizing most  fully  with  the  main  object  in  the 
group  of  sacred  wonders  on  which  the  Church  is 
called  to  gaze.  Who,  on  the  ^her  hand,  does  not 
at  least  perceive  that  all  the  glare  and  gaudiness 
of  this  world,  its  excitements,  its  keenly-pursued 
goods,  its  successes,  and  its  transports,  its  pomps. 


108  CONSOLATIO. 

and  its  luxuries,  are  not  in  character  with  that 
pale  and  solemn  scene  which  faith  must  ever 
have  in  its  eye  1  What  Christian  will  not  own 
that  to  "reign  as  kings,"  and  to  be  "full,"  is  not 
his  calling?  so  as  to  derive  comfort  m  the  hour  of 
sickness  or  bereavement,  or  other  affliction,  from 
the  thought  that  he  is  now  in  his  place,  if  he  be 
Christ's,  in  his  true  home,  the  sepulchre  in  which 
his  Lord  was  laid. 


Could  we  see  the  Cross  upon  Calvary,  and  the 
list  of  sufferers  who  resisted  unto  blood  in  the 
times  that  followed  it,  is  it  possible  that  we  should 
feel  surprise  when  pain  overtake  us,  or  impatience 
at  its  continuance  ?  Is  it  strange,  though  we  are 
smitten  by  ever  so  new  a  plague  1  Is  it  grievous 
that  the  cross  presses  upon  one  nerve  or  limb  ever 
so  many  years,  till  hope  of  relief  is  gone?  Is  it 
indeed  not  possible,  with  the  Apostle,  to  rejoice  in 
"  bearing  in  our  body  the  marks  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  ?  "  And  much  more  can  we,  for  very  shame- 
sake,  suffer  ourselves  to  be  troubled  at  what  is 
but  ordinary  pain,  to  be  irritated  or  saddened, 
made  gloomy  or  anxious  by  inconvenience,  which 
could  never  surprise  or  unsettle  those,  who  had 
studied  and  understood  their  place  as  servants  of 
a  crucified  Lord  ? 

Let  us,  then,  determine,  with  cheerful  hearts, 


CONSOLATIO.  109 

to  sacrifice  unto  the  Lord  our  God  our  comforts 
and  pleasures,  however  innocent,  when  He  calls 
for  them,  whether  for  the  purposes  of  His  Church 
or  in  His  own  inscrutable  purposes.  Let  us  lend 
to  Him  a  few  short  hours  of  present  ease,  and  we 
shall  receive  our  own  with  abundant  usury  in  the 
day  of  His  coming.  There  is  a  treasury  in  heaven, 
stored  with  such  offerings  as  the  natural  man 
abhors,  —  with  sighs  and  tears,  wounds  and  blood, 
torture  and  death.  The  martyrs  first  began  the 
contribution,  and  we  may  all  follow  them  ;  all  of 
us,  for  every  suffering,  great  or  small,  may,  like 
the  widow's  mite,  be  sacrificed  to  Him  who  sent 
it.  Christ  gave  us  the  words  of  consecration,  when 
He  for  our  example  said,  "  Thy  will  be  done." 
Henceforth,  as  the  Apostle  speaks,  we  may  glory 
in  tribulation  as  the  seed  of  future  glory.  Mean- 
while, let  us  never  forget  in  all  we  suffer,  that, 
properly  speaking,  our  own  sin  is  the  cause  of  it ; 
and  it  is  only  by  Christ's  mercy  that  we  are  al- 
lowed to  range  ourselves  at  His  side.  We,  who 
are  children  of  wrath,  are  made  through  Him 
children  of  grace;  and  our  pains,  which  are  in 
themselves  foretastes  of  hell,  are  changed  by  the 
sprinkling  of  His  blood  into  a  preparation  for 
heaven. 


110  CONSOLATIO. 


Gocfs  particular  providence. 

How  gracious  is  this  revelation  of  God's  par- 
ticular providence  to  those  who  seek  Him !  how 
gracious  to  those  who  have  discovered  that  this 
world  is  but  vanity,  and  who  are  solitary  and  iso- 
lated in  themselves,  whatever  shadows  of  power 
and  happiness  surround  them  !  The  multitude, 
indeed,  go  on  without  these  thoughts,  either  from 
insensibility,  as  not  understanding  their  own 
wants,  or  changing  from  one  idol  to  another,  as 
each  successively  fails :  but  men  even  of  keener 
hearts  would  be  overpowered  by  despondency, 
and  would  even  loathe  existence,  did  they  sup- 
pose themse^yes  under  the  mere  operation  of  fixed 
laws,  powerless  to  excite  the  pity  or  the  attention 
of  Him  who  has  appointed  them.  What  should 
they  do  especially,  who  are  cast  among  persons 
unable  to  enter  into  their  feelings,  and  thus  stran- 
gers to  them,  though  by  long  custom  ever  so 
much  friends ;  or  have  perplexities  of  mind  they 
cannot  explain  to  themselves,  much  less  remove, 
and  no  one  to  help  them  ;  or  have  affections  and 
aspirations  pent  up  within  them,  because  they 
have  not  met  with  objects  to  which  to  devote 
them ;  or  are  misunderstood  by  those  around 
them,  and  find  they  have  no  words  to  set  them- 
selves right  with  them,  or  no  principles  in  com- 


CONSOLATIO.  Ill 

mon,  by  way  of  appeal ;  or  seem  to  themselves 
to  be  without  place  or  purpose  in  the  world,  or  to 
be  in  the  way  of  others ;  or  have  to  follow  their 
own  sense  of  duty,  without  advisers  or  support- 
ers ;  nay,  to  resist  the  wishes  and  solicitations  of 
superiors  or  relatives,  or  the  burden  of  some  pain- 
ful secret,  or  of  some  incommunicable  solitary 
grief !  In  all  such  cases  the  Gospel  narrative 
supplies  our  very  need,  not  simply  presenting  to 
us  an  unchangeable  Creator  to  rely  upon,  but  a 
compassionate  Guardian,  a  discriminating  Judge 
and  Helper.  God  beholds  thee  individually,  who- 
ever thou  art;  He  calls  thee  by  thy  name :  He 
sees  thee  and  understands  thee  ;  as  He  made  thee, 
He  knows  what  is  in  thee ;  all  thy  own  peculiar 
feelings  and  thoughts,  thy  dispositions  and  likings, 
thy  strength  and  thy  weakness:  He  views  thee 
in  thy  day  of  rejoicing  and  thy  day  of  sorrow  : 
He  sympathizes  in  thy  hopes  and  temptations : 
He  interests  Himself  in  all  thy  anxieties  and  re- 
membrances, —  all  the  risings  and  fallings  of  thy 
spirits :  He  has  numbered  the  very  hairs  of  thy 
head,  and  the  cubits  of  thy  stature:  He  com- 
passes thee  round,  and  bears  thee  in  His  arms : 
He  takes  thee  up,  and  He  sets  thee  down :  He 
notes  thy  very  countenance,  whether  smiling  or 
in  tears,  —  whether  healthful  or  sickly  :  He  looks 
tenderly  upon  thy  hands  and  thy  feet:  He  hears 
thy  voice,  the  beating  of  thy  heart,  and  thy  very 


112  CONSOLATIO. 

breathing.  Thou  dost  not  love  thyself  better 
than  He  loves  thee :  thou  canst  not  shrink  from 
pain  more  than  He  dislikes  thy  bearing  it ;  and 
if  He  puts  it  on  thee,  it  is  as  thou  wilt  put  it  on 
thyself  for  a  greater  good  afterwards.  Thou  art 
not  only  His  creature  (thongh  for  the  very  spar- 
rows He  has  a  care,  and  pitied  the  much  cattle  of 
Nineveh);  thou  art  man  redeemed  and  sanctified, 
His  adopted  son,  favoured  with  a  portion  of  that 
glory  and  blessedness  which  flows  from  Him 
everlastingly  unto  the  Only-begotten.  Thou  wast 
one  of  those  for  whom  Christ  offered  up  His  last 
prayer,  and  sealed  it  with  His  precious  blood. 
What  a  thought  is  this  !  —  a  thought  almost  too 
great  for  our  faith.  Scarce  can  we  refrain  from 
acting  Sarah's  part,  when  we  bring  it  before  us, 
so  as  to  laugh  from  amazement  and  perplexity. 
What  is  man,  what  are  we,  what  am  I,  that  the 
Son  of  God  should  have  been  so  mindful  of  me? 
W^hat  am  I,  that  He  should  have  changed  my 
soul's  original  constitution ;  new-made  me,  who 
from  youth  up  have  been  a  transgressor  ;  and 
should  Himself  dwell  personally  in  this  very 
heart  of  mine,  making  me  His  temple?  What 
am  I,  that  God  the  Holy  Ghost  should  enter  me, 
and  draw  up  my  thoughts  heavenwards,  "  with 
plaints  unutterable  ?  " 


I 


CONSOLATIO.  113 

* 

'  Affliction  intended  to  make  us  feel  the  all-sufficiency 
of  God. 

Affliction  is  a  great  realizer  in  religion,  or  rather 
a  great  detecter  of  the  want  of  reahty  in  rehgion. 
We,  perhaps,   thought  ourselves  Christians,  and 
that  we  were  founded  on  the  rock ;  and  now  au 
affliction  comes,  and  we  shake  like  aspen-leaves. 
Could  this  be,  if  we  were  really  on  the  rock?    We 
thought  fondly  that  God  was  the  chosen  portion 
of  our  souls,  and  that,  though  all  created  things 
were  taken  from  us,  we  had  enough  when  we  had 
Him ;  and  yet,  when  He  crosses  some  desire  of 
our  hearts,  or  removes  some  of  His  own  gifts,  — 
a  friend,  perhaps,  or  even  a  little  of  the  world's 
trash,  — we  seem  as  if  we  had  lost  our  all,  and 
cry  after  it  as  that  Danite  did  after  his  idols.  And 
thus  we  learn  the  fact  that  our  comfort  before  did 
not,  as  we  idly  supposed,   flow  from  the  eternal 
fountain,  (for  that  still  remains  to  us,)  but  had 
been  drawn  from  perishing  cisterns ;  and  there- 
fore, now  that  they  are  broken,  we  die  of  thirst. 
This  is  an  important  discovery,  and  it  was  to 
make  this   discovery   to  us   that  God  sent    the 
affliction.     Let  us,  then,  receive  it  in  deep  hu- 
mility ;  let  us  receive  it  as  a  call  from  God  to 
leave  the  creature  behind  us,  and  go  directly  into 
His  own  more  immediate  presence,  into  His  inner 

chamber.  i      ,     . 

8 


114  CONSOLATIO. 

Reader,  will  you  allow  me  to  speak  a  word  to  you 
on  this  matter.  Beware  of  occupying  your  mind 
as  to  how  the  affliction  happened,  or  how  it  might 
have  been  prevented.  Think  not  of  the  oversight, 
or  folly,  or  malice,  which  may  appear  to  you  to 
be  the  immediate  occasion  of  it.  God  did  it ;  and 
you  must  bid  away  all  second  causes  from  your 
thought,  and  carry  the  affliction  to  His  throne  of 
grace,  and  cast  it  and  yourself  before  Him ;  and 
ask  Him  to  save  your  soul,  and  to  deliver  you 
from  resting  on  any  created  portion  ;  and  pray 
Him  to  become  Himself  your  real,  and  true,  and 
everlasting  portion.  Take  care  that  this  afflic- 
tion be  not  lost.  Abide  in  His  presence,  and  be 
jealous  of  receiving  comfort  from  any  other 
source ;  you  may  lose  your  affliction  if  you  do. 
And,  oh  !  remember  that  holiness  is  of  more  im- 
portance than  comfort.  Be  still  more  anxious  for 
profit  from  your  own  affliction,  than  from  support 
under  it.  You  are  an  immortal  creature,  and 
eternity  is  your  great  concern.  Holiness  is  eter- 
nal happiness —  comfort  may  be  the  afiair  of  an 
hour.  And  God  sends  affliction,  that  we  may  be- 
come partakers  of  His  holiness. 

Let  me  conclude  by  saying,  that  all  is  to  be 
looked  for  and  received  from  God:  "Open  thy 
mouth  wide  and  I  will  fill  it."  It  is  the  soul  that 
receives  all  from  God,  which  alone  can  feel  itself 
to  be  the  property  of  God  ;  His  property  to  guide 


CONSOLATIO.  115 

and  to  command ;  His  property  to  bless  and  to 
keep;  His  highly-prized  property,  purchased  at 
no  less  a  cost  than  the  death  of  Christ,  for  this 
very  end,  that  He  might  sanctify  it  in  time,  and 
glorify  it  in  eternity.  The  soul  that  feels  this  has 
peace ;  it  does  not  make  haste,  for  it  knows  how 
secure  it  is.  It  possesses  the  secret  of  the  Lord, 
that  secret  which  does  for  all  circumstances  and 
contingencies  —  which  does  for  life,  for  death,  for 
duty,  for  suffering — which  gives  the  spirit  of  a 
pilgrim,  and  yet  a  willing  servant  —  which  gives 
the  foretaste  of  the  joy  of  heaven,  as  it  is  the 
commencement  of  the  character  of  heaven. 


How  can  we  complain,  or  think  hardly  of  God 
for  any  thing  He  does,  or  have  the  least  doubt  of 
His  goodness,  when  He  has  given  His  Son  to  die 
for  us  1 


Bereavements,  special  occasions  for  God's  consolations. 

Many  owe  their  extrication  from  the  ruin  of 
this  world  to  affliction,  to  some  sanctified  sorrow; 
and  to  none  more  frequently  than  to  the  loss  of 
relatives  or  friends.  Our  once  cheerful  home  is 
now  become  a  house  of  mourning;  there  is  a 


116  CONSOLATIO. 

blank  in  the  domestic  circle  which  nothing  earth- 
ly can  fill  up;  and  every  object  to  which  surviv- 
ing friends  can  look,  repeats  the  same  sad  story, 
that  the  desire  of  their  eyes  is  taken  from  them : 
and  yet  these  seasons  are  sometimes  blessed 
beyond  all  description :  and  many  have  known 
more  happiness,  even  in  the  multitude  of  their 
sorrows,  than  they  ever  knew  before ;  for  often 
will  that  Being,  who  came  to  heal  the  broken- 
hearted, seize  the  softened  moments,  and  visit  the 
mourner  as  he  sits  in  solitary  moments.  In  Him 
the  afflicted  find  a  friend  formed  for  adversity,  — 
one  who  can  penetrate  the  soul,  and  converse 
with  all  that  is  most  intimate  and  peculiar  in  our 
bereavement ;  —  one  who  knew  the  object  for 
which  we  grieve  better  than  we  did  ourselves; 
one  who  was  Himself  "  a  man  of  sorrows  and 
acquainted  with  grief."  In  sympathizing  with 
Him,  the  soul  is  gently  lifted  above  the  world. 
It  becomes  the  sweetest  consolation  to  think  of 
that  blessed  place,  where  we  shall  see  our  friends 
again,  and  fall  down  before  the  throne  of  Him 
who  comforted  us  in  our  troubles.  These  are 
"  tears  that  delight,  and  sighs  that  waft  to  heaven." 
These  sorrows  are  turned  into  joy ;  they  unite  us 
to  Him  who  is  the  salvation  of  the  soul;  they 
bring  us  to  that  High  Priest  who  is  touched  with 
the  feeling  of  our  infirmities,  and  through  Him 
we  cast  our  anchor  within  the  veil. 


CONSOLATIO.  im 

O  that  sigh  !  Do  happy  people  ever  sigh  1  I 
find  I  want  something  which  God  will  not  suffer 
me  to  have ;  and  till  we  are  of  the  same  mind, 
life  can  be  nothing  at  bottom  but  one  perpetual 
sigh. 


The  faith  of  Jesus,  the  channel  of  suffering  grace. 

Jesus  lived,  offering  up  His  own  blood  in  sub- 
missive confidence.  He  is  thus  our  pattern ;  and 
He  is  more  than  our  pattern,  for  in  Him  the  grace 
of  God,  and  the  forgiveness  of  sins  committed 
during  the  sparing  mercy  of  God,  are  freely 
declared  to  the  Chief  of  Sinners,  and  through  Him 
living  water  is  communicated,  enabling  those  who 
will  receive  it  to  walk  in  the  same  steps  towards 
the  same  glory. 

That  spiritual  stream  comes  back  to  us,  as  it 
were,  through  the  gates  of  death  —  from  the  other 
side  of  the  gulf;  and  thus  it  is  a  stranger  here, 
for  its  home  and  its  interests  are  all  on  the  other 
side  ;  and  as  it  is  itself  a  stranger,  it  makes  those 
to  become  strangers  and  pilgrims  who  receive  it. 
They  seek  back  to  the  fountain-head  of  their  life, 
and  desire  to  be  with  Him ;  and  as  they  know 
that  it  is  only  through  sorrow  and  death  that 
they  can  arrive  at  Him,  they  enter  into  the  coun- 
sel of  God  in  His  plan  of  leading  them  in  this 
way,  with  their  whole  hearts. 


11§  CONSOLATIO. 


Suffering,  a  higher  path  than  doing. 

Saul  had  anxiously  inquired,  "  What  wouldest 
thou  have  me  to  do?"  Our  Lord  sends  His 
minister  to  tell  him,  not  what  great  things  he 
shall  do,  but  what  far  greater  things  he  shall 
suffer.  Sufferings  are,  after  all,  the  great  achieve- 
ments of  the  Christian.  Where  one  man  is  per- 
mitted to  effect  mighty  things  for  his  Lord,  by 
carrying  the  words  of  the  everlasting  Gospel  over 
the  burning  sands  of  Africa,  or  the  frozen  moun- 
tains of  the  north,  thousands  and  tens  of  thou- 
sands are  called  to  the  high  privilege  of  the 
Philippians  of  old,  "  not  only  to  believe,  but  also 
to  suffer  for  His  name's  sake."  To  sit  on  His 
right  hand  and  on  His  left,  are  not  now  to  be 
given ;  but  to  drink  of  His  cup  of  trial,  and  to  be 
baptized  with  His  baptism  of  affliction,  are  still 
among  the  choicest  blessings  which  He  bestows 
upon  His  people.  Be  not,  then,  disappointed,  my 
beloved  brethren,  if,  with  every  desire  to  do  great 
things  for  your  Divine  Master,  you  are  denied  the 
power  or  the  opportunity.  If,  as  has  been  beau- 
tifully said,  "They  also  serve  who  only  stand 
and  wait,"  how  much  more  do  they  serve  who 
are  called  upon  to  endure  and  to  suffer !  Yes ;  in 
the  chamber  of  sickness,  upon  the  bed  of  pain, 
you  may  as  greatly  glorify  your  Redeemer,  as 


CONSOLATIO.  119 

amid  the  trials  of  the  mission,  or  the  tortures  of 
the  stake  :  and  often  does  it  please  your  Heavenly- 
Father,  that  while  you  are  meditating  what  great 
things  you  shall  do  for  Christ,  He  is  preparing 
the  great  things  you  shall  suffer. 

Endeavor,  therefore,  to  live  in  that  spiritual 
frame  of  mind,  that  you  may  be  daily  willing,  at 
the  bidding  of  your  Lord,  to  take  up  the  cross, 
and  to  follow  His  footsteps,  though  they  may  lead 
you  through  many  a  toilsome  track,  or  guide  you 
through  many  a  thorny  passage.  In  your 
journey  to  the  heavenly  country,  you  must  en- 
counter trials,  and  troubles,  and  sorrow ;  no  child 
of  God  was  ever  yet  without  them  ;  not  one  of  all 
that  countless  multitude  in  white  robes,  with 
palms  in  their  hands,  but  "came  out  of  great 
tribulation : "  how  can  you  therefore  expect  or 
desire  to  escape  that  of  which  all  the  other 
children  in  God's  dear  family  have  so  largely 
partaken?  "Think  it  not,  therefore,  strange 
concerning  the  fiery  trial  which  is  to  try  you,  as 
though  some  strange  thing  happened  unto  you; 
but  rejoice,  inasmuch  as  ye  are  partakers  of 
Christ's  sufferings,  that  when  His  glory  shall  be 
revealed,  ye  may  be  glad  also  with  exceeding 
joy."  Dwell  much  and  frequently  upon  the  views 
of  that  "eternal  weight  of  glory;"  it  will  tend 
more  than  any  other  consideration  to  teach  you 
to  form  a  correct  and  scriptural  estimate  of  your 


120  CONSOLATIO. 

"  light  afflictions."  It  was  thus  that  the  Apostle 
of  whom  we  are  speaking,  (St.  Paul,)  at  a  later 
period  of  his  Christian  course,  was  enabled  to 
bear,  (and  to  bear  without  repining,)  an  infinitely 
heavier  load  of  suffering  than  will  ever  be  laid  on 
you.  He  cast  all  his  trials,  all  his  sorrows,  all 
his  sufferings,  into  one  scale,  and  after  considera- 
tion of  them,  declares  them  to  be  light,  and  but 
for  a  moment.  He  then  lays  the  glory  in  the 
other  scale,  and  pronounces  it  to  be  ponderous, 
weighty,  and  eternal,  an  exceeding  "  weight  of 
glory."  In  the  one  is  sorrow  for  a  little  while,  in 
the  other  eternal  joy.  In  the  one,  pain  for  a  few 
moments;  in  the  other,  everlasting  rest.  In  the 
one  is  the  loss  of  some  few  temporary  things;  in 
the  other,  the  full  fruition  of  God  in  Christ,  who 
is  "all  in  all." 


Life,  the  practice  of  the  Cross. 

Our  life  from  baptism  to  our  death  should  be  a 
practice  of  the  cross,  a  learning  to  be  crucified, 
a  crucifixion  of  our  passions,  appetites,  desires, 
wills,  until  one  by  one  they  be  all  nailed ;  and  we 
have  no  will  but  the  will  of  our  Father  which  is 
in  heaven.  Men  and  brethren,  soldiers,  servants, 
ensign-bearers  of  Christ,  what  are   we   doing? 


CONSOLATIO.  121 

We  were  baptized  into  our  Saviour's  death,  our 
Saviour's  cross :  we  too  bear  upon  our  brows  the 
imprinted  cross,  unseen  of  men,  but  seen  of 
angels,  seen  of  Satan,  —  "the  seal  of  God  upon 
our  foreheads :  "  but  was  it  placed  there  an  idle 
sign?  Had  it  no  meaning?  Was  the  sign  of 
the  cross  to  be  worn  in  the  midst  of  luxury  and 
ease?  Were  the  sworn  soldiers  of  the  cross  to  live 
softly? 

Our  Lord,  too,  who  bore  the  cross  for  us, 
preached  the  cross ;  hear  Him !  "He  that  taketh 
not  his  cross,  and  folio weth  after  me,  is  not 
worthy  of  me."  (Matt.  x.  38.)  "Then  said  he 
to  his  disciples.  If  any  man  will  come  after  me, 
let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  daily, 
and  follow  me."    (Luke,  ix.  23.) 

Would  any  know  how  to  begin  bearing  the 
cross  ?  Some  crosses  God,  from  our  very  child- 
hood, has  in  His  goodness  provided  for  us,  that 
in  them  we  may  learn,  what  of  ourselves  we 
should  have  had  no  courage  to  begin.  We  speak 
of  the  "crosses"  of  daily  life,  and  forget  that  our 
very  language  is  a  witness  against  us;  how 
meekly  we  ought  to  bear  them,  in  the  blessed 
steps  of  our  Holy  Lord;  how,  in  "every  cross 
and  care,"  we  ought  not  to  acquiesce  simply,  but 
to  take  them  cheerfully,  —  not  cheerfully  only, 
but  joyfully;  yea,  if  they  should  even  deserve 
the  name  of  tribulation,  to  "joy  in  tribulation" 


122  CONSOLATIO. 

also,  as  seeing  in  them  our  Father's  hand,  our 
Saviour's  cross.  So  walking  on  earth,  we  may 
be  in  heaven  :  the  ill-tempers  of  others,  the  slights 
and  rudenesses  of  the  world,  ill  health,  the  daily 
accidents  with  which  God  has  mercifully  strewed 
our  paths,  instead  of  ruffling  or  disturbing  our 
peace,  may  cause  the  peace  of  God  to  be  "  shed 
abroad  in  our  hearts  through  the  Holy  Ghost 
which  is  given  to  us." 


The  cleansing  of  the  clouds  of  life.  • 

"  And  now  men  see  not  the  bright  light  which 
is  in  the  clouds ;  but  the  wind  passeth  and  cleans- 
eth  them."^  So  speaks  Elihu,  in  the  solemn  and 
sublime  address  which  he  makes  to  Job.  "  Now 
we  see  through  a  glass  darkly ;"  so  writes  the 
Apostle  to  the  early  converts  at  Corinth,  when 
telling  them  of  the  character  of  their  state  and 
calling.  The  "now"  of  Elihu  is  the  present 
hour,  the  present  day,  the  present  month  or  year; 
the  "now"  of  the  Apostle  is  the  whole  scope  of 
the  present  chequered  life.  Of  both,  the  same 
great  truth  is  justly  to  be  predicated.  We  live  in 
constant  twilight ;    we  cannot  see  by  the  clear 

t  1  Job,  iixvii.  21. 


CONSOLATIO.  123 

broad  light  of  day  the  exact  colour  and  character 
of  God's  providences:  some  small  part  is  re- 
vealed, but  a  far  larger  is  hidden:  we  see  the 
clouds,  but  we  cannot  understand  them,  we  can- 
not interpret  them ;  they  have  a  meaning,  but  we 
cannot  tell  exactly  what  it  is;  it  is  an  enigma,  a 
riddle,  a  mystery ;  and  it  must  continue  to  be  so 
until  time  draws  up  the  veil  of  the  future,  and 
God,  the  revealer  of  secrets,  displays  to  His  wait- 
ing, wondering,  adoring  servants,  the  glory  and 
the  beauty  of  all  this  mysterious  dispensation. 

"  The  wind,"  says  Elihu,  "  passeth  and  cleans- 
eth  them."  "Then,"  says  the  Apostle  to  the 
Corinthians,  "  then  shall  we  see  face  to  face." 
The  clouds  of  Providence  shall  be  dispersed  at 
last ;  the  wind  shall  clear  and  cleanse  the  dark- 
ened sky :  we  shall  see  face  to  face ;  the  day- 
dawn  of  another  world  shall  succeed  to  the  long 
and  laborious  gloom  of  this ;  the  shadows  shall 
flee  away ;  and  as  God  Himself  sees,  so  almost 
shall  we  see  in  open  vision  His  unclouded  glory. 

It  was  to  explain  to  the  uneasy  and  anxious 
mind  of  Job,  or  if  not  to  explain,  at  least  to  illus  • 
trate  the  character  of  God's  dealings,  that  Elihu 
spoke  these  words.  Let  us  ask  and  wait  for  the 
aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  while  we  endeavor  to 
expand  their  meaning. 

First,  and  generally,  they  place  before  us  a 
moral  truth  under  a  natural  appearance.     They 


124  CONSOLATIO. 

bid  us  look  at  the  clouds  that  hang  heavily  over 
the  landscape.  How  dark  and  gloomy  they 
seem !  They  are  like  a  great  curtain  let  down 
and  drawn  before  us ;  they  seem  to  shut  out  all 
light,  to  exclude  all  hope,  to  veil  and  almost  to 
extinguish  all  beauty.  We  can  scarcely  believe 
but  that  all  that  is  behind  them  is  as  melancholy 
as  they  are  themselves;  it  seems  as  if  heaven  (I 
mean  the  natural  heaven)  were  all  cloud;  as  if, 
pierce  deep  as  we  might  into  its  bosomed  gloom, 
we  should  still  find  nothing  but  cold,  and  dark- 
ness, and  mist.  We  may  have  seen  the  blue 
depths  of  the  vaulted  heaven  a  thousand  times 
before ;  we  may  have  rejoiced  in  their  azure 
glory ;  we  may  have  felt  the  strange  and  myste- 
rious charm  of  their  power  upon  our  souls;  but  it 
is  all  now  as  if  it  had  never  been;  we  only  see 
the  rolling  world  of  clouds  that  swim  above  us, 
and  that  fill  our  minds  as  well  as  our  sight,  and 
seem  to  blot  out  every  trace  of  former  sunlight, 
and  almost  to  destroy  every  possibility  of  future 
gladness. 

It  is  in  words  like  those  before  us  that  we  are 
thus  taught  a  moral  lesson  by  a  natural  type. 
"Look  at  those  clouds,"  (so  the  Holy  Spirit 
would  seem  to  speak  to  us  by  Elihu;)  "look  at 
those  clouds,  so  deep,  so  dark,  so  continuous,  so 
overspreading  the  whole  face  of  the  sky ;  they  are 
not  what  they  appear ;  they  are  neither  so  deep 


CONSOLATIO.  125 

nor  so  abiding  as  they  seem.  It  is  true  they  have 
hung  there  all  the  day,  and  perhaps  for  many 
days  longer  they  shall  continue  to  hang  there : 
but  they  shall  not  be  perpetual,  —  a  time  shall 
come  when  they  shall  be  scattered  and  removed. 
It  is  also  true  that  they  may  be  unbroken,  and 
that  their  darkness  may  seem  unrelieved  by  a 
single  ray  of  sunshine;  but  it  is  not  so:  there  is 
light  in  their  bosoms ;  they  carry  an  inward 
glory;  they  are  the  hiding-places  of  the  sun's 
burning  rays;  there  are  rainbow  glories  moving 
and  playing  like  the  fire  among  the  cherubim  of 
Ezekiel,  all  through  their  wondrous  depths.  Go 
to  some  tall  mountain,  on  whose  bright  summit 
the  sunshine  lives;  up  which  the  clouds  cannot 
climb,  it  is  so  high  :  look  down  upon  those  very 
clouds  that  appear  to  you  so  impenetrably  gloomy, 
and  they  seem  like  one  swelling  sea  of  silver 
waves ;  it  is  glory,  and  brightness,  and  beauty, 
in  one  continuous  and  wonderful  extent  and  suc- 
cession. You  see  not  now,  as  the  text  tells  us, 
"  the  light  that  is  in  them;"  but  though  you  do 
not  see  it,  it  is  there.  It  is  your  weakness,  your 
low  and  abject  condition,  your  earthly  station, 
that  makes  you  see  nothing  but  the  gloom  of  a 
sad  day  in  that  welkin  Avhich,  within  it  and 
above,  is  all  burning  with  beauty  and  glory. 

Such  is  the  natural  truth ;  such  is  the  reality 
of  that  picture  which  the  clouds  present  to  us. 


126  CONSOLATIO. 

when  examined  and  considered.  But  what  does 
this  tell  us  about  ourselves  7  This  is  our  great 
concern.  What  does  it  reveal  to  us  of  the  world 
of  Providence,  or  of  the  world  of  grace  ? 

It  tells  us  that,  as  there  are  clouds  in  the  natu- 
ral world,  so  will  there  be  dark  shadows  on  the 
heart  of  man.  They  are  necessary.  God  would 
not  bring  them  over  His  people  if  they  were  not 
so,  for  "  He  doth  not  afflict  willingly."  They 
are  indispensable  for  the  carrying  on  of  His  great 
scheme  of  grace.  They  are  necessary  for  those 
whom  He  is  bringing  to  the  knowledge  of  Him- 
self on  earth  ;  and  they  are  equally  indispensable 
for  those,  whom  having  brought  to  this  knowl- 
edge of  Himself  on  earth,  He  is  bringing  to  the 
sight  and  to  the  enjoyment  of  Himself  in  heaven. 
They  are  necessary  first  to  soften  the  heart ;  they 
are  equally  necessary  afterwards  to  sanctify  the 
heart.  The  reason  and  the  necessity  of  these 
clouds  is,  that  if  the  world  were  all  sunshine, 
unconverted  men  would,  humanly  speaking, 
never  leave  it  for  God;  they  would  "  dote  and  be 
mad  upon  their  idols."  The  further  reason  and 
necessity  is,  that  men,  vitally  renewed,  might  be 
too  contented  with  the  tranquil  flow  of  an  easy 
life;  they  would  make  no  great  struggles  for 
virtue;  they  would  offer  no  strong  prayers  for 
holiness;  they  would  dwell  in  the  region  of  a 
torpid  contentment;  they  would   not  press   and 


CONSOLATIO.  127 

soar  to  the  upper  region  of  a  glorious  and  seraphic 
existence.  "  It  is  through  much  tribulation  that 
we  must  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God,"  because 
it  is  through  much  tribulation,  and  through  many 
clouds,  that  we  must  be  made  fit  to  enter. 

But  where,  you  will  ask,  is  the  bright  light  1 
Behind  these  clouds  it  is  that  the  light  is  dwell- 
ing. It  is  the  dark  side  of  the  moral  and  the 
spiritual  cloud  which  we  now  see;  but  there  is  a 
bright,  and  a  beautiful,  and  a  blessed  light,  on  its 
upper  and  its  heavenly  side.  How  happy  were 
the  children  of  men,  could  they  but  believe  this ! 
It  is  so,  whether  they  believe  it  or  not;  their 
happiness,  their  peace,  their  present  and  eternal 
interest,  is  to  believe  it.  Look  at  that  sorrowful 
man  going  on  in  darkness  of  soul,  and  in  dark- 
ness of  fortune,  his  goods  daily  diminishing,  or 
his  health  declining,  or  family  sorrows  shaking 
with  successive  blows  his  agitated  heart:  it  is 
cloud  above,  around,  within :  all  life  seems 
dreary,  all  hope  wears  the  livery  of  despair. 
Where  is  the  light  in  his  many  clouds  ?  Where 
is  the  bright  light  which  the  text  speaks  of?  It 
is  in  the  intention  of  God;  it  is  in  the  method 
which  God  is  taking  to  lead  him  to  Himself.  Let 
.  this  knowledge  burst  upon  his  soul,  and  all  at 
once  is  changed.  The  gloomy  cloud  "  turns  forth 
its  silver  lining  on  the  night."  He  sees  God's 
hand-writing ;  and  as  clearly  as  if  a  Daniel  were 


]§[|r  CONSOLATIO. 

there  to  interpret  it,  he  can  understand  all  its 
meaning,  and  discover  all  its  mercy. 

But  if  it  be  thus  with  him  whom  God  is  bring- 
ing to  Himself,  it  is  especially  so  with  every  faith- 
ful child  already  brought  Their  Father  has 
taught  them  to  read  His  own  hand-writing ;  they 
have  been  in  His  school;  they  have  learned 
heaven's  holy  alphabet;  they  can  see  now  earth- 
ly sorrow  is  the  heavenly  name  for  joy,  and 
bodily  pain  for  spiritual  improvement,  and  the 
present  wounding  of  the  heart  for  its  healing  and 
eternal  cure. 

When  we  see,  therefore,  a  saintly  soul  bowed 
down  by  affliction  of  heart,  or  tried  by  the  long 
and  heavy  trial  of  some  tormenting  disease,  we 
are  able  at  once  to  solve  the  great  riddle  of  suffer- 
ing holiness;  we  see  the  "light  in  the  cloud," 
we  gather  the  meaning  of  the  mystery,  we  see 
that  God  is  taking  (so  to  speak)  the  greatest  pains 
to  make  His  child  a  holy  son. 

"  Whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth ; "  the 
heart  of  the  sufferer  owns  the  truth ;  it  leaps 
even  in  the  midst  of  its  pain,  and  joyfully  con- 
fesses it :  — 

"  The  eye  that  looks  at  things  aright 
Sees  through  the  clouds  the  deep  blue  light ; 
And  from  the  bank,  all  mire  and  wet, 
Plucks  the  fresh  blooming  violet." 


CONSOLATIO.  129 

He  has,  moreover,  a  deep  inner  thought  which 
ever  consoles  him.  "Thou  art  my  portion,  O 
Lord."  This  is  his  heart-music.  In  the  midst 
of  sorrow  he  can  say  and  sing  it.  "And  if  it  be 
so,  why  my  very  portion  is  my  chastener;  it  is 
the  indwelHng  Spirit  that  is  correcting  me;  it  is 
myself,  my  better,  my  heavenly  self,  that  is  lay- 
ing on  the  smarting  rod.  Could  I  look  behind, 
could  I  see  the  bright  and  silver  side  of  things, 
I  should  confess,  without  the  smallest  hesitation, 
that  there  was  not  a  single  pang  with  which  my 
heart  was  quivering  that  was  not  necessary  for 
my  sanctification." 

But  these  clouds,  shall  not  always  remain  on 
the  heart.  "The  wind  passeth  and  cleanseth 
them."  The  cloud  is  cleansed  ;  it  is  a  beautiful 
and  expressive  term;  its  dark  parts  are  taken 
away,  its  bright  parts  remain.  All  the  saints 
have  found  it  so.  Noah,  Daniel,  Job ;  even  in 
this  life  the  cloud  passed  away  from  each,  and 
only  the  bright  light  of  ten  thousand  happy 
beams  of  joy,  and  love,  and  grace,  remained.  So 
shall  it  be  to  you,  sons  of  God,  and  servants  of 
Him  on  whom  in  this  life  the  sunbeams  of  hap- 
piness never  fell !  *  Even  in  this  world  (have  you 
not  already  experienced  it  7)  heaviness  has  often 
endured  only  for  a  night,  — joy  has  come  in  the 
morning.  But  should  no  bright  after-piece  suc- 
ceed to  the  darkness  that  now  oppresses  you ; 
9 


130  CONSOLATIO, 

should  no  noon-day  sun  burst  through  the  rolling 
clouds  of  your  present  sorrow ;  should  the  heavy 
gloom  continue  during  all  the  circling  hours  of 
your  life's  long  day,  yet  still  "  at  eventide  it  shall 
be  light."  The  sunset  and  the  evening  of  this 
present  world  shall  be  the  type  of  the  morning  of 
the  other ;  you  shall  lie  down  quietly  in  the  faith 
of  Christ,  and  "  wake  up  in  His  likeness,  and  be 
satisfied." 


Conquest  of  temptation,  deliverance  from  the 
power  of  evil  habits,  and  a  ready  compliance  with 
the  will  of  God,  in  answer  to  prayer,  are  much 
better  proofs  of  his  favorable  presence  than  joyous 
feelings.  The  latter  may  be  mistaken,  but  the 
former  are  as  sure  marks  of  the  Divine  operation 
and  blessing,  as  that  a  plentiful  crop  of  corn  has 
had  the  benefit  of  rain  and  sunshine. 


Songs  in  the  night. 

It  is  thy  title,  O  Lord,  and  only  thine,  that 
thou  givest  "songs  in  the  night."  (Job  xxxv.  10.) 
The  night  is  a  sad  and  dolorous  season ;  as  the 
light,  contrarily,  is  the  image  of  cheerfulness. 
(Eccl.  xi.  7.)     Like  as  it  is  in  bodily  pams  and 


CONSOLATIO.  131 

aches,  that  they  are  still  worst  towards  night ; 
so  it  is  ill  the  cares  and  griefs  of  the  mind  ;  then 
they  assault  us  most  when  they  are  helped  on 
by  the  advantage  of  an  uncomfortable  darkness. 
Many  men  can  give  themselves  songs  in  the  day 
of  their  prosperity,  who  can  but  howl  in  the  night 
of  their  affliction;  but  for  a  Paul  and  Silas  to 
sing  in  their  prison  at  midnight  (Acts  xvi.  25); 
for  an  Asaph  to  "call  to  remembrance  his  song  in 
the  night"  (Ps.  Ixxvii.  6) ;  this  comes  only  from 
that  Spirit  of  thine,  whose  peculiar  style  is  "  the 
Comforter;"  and  surely,  as  music  sounds  best  in 
the  night,  so  those  heavenly  notes  of  praise  which 
we  sing  to  Thee,  our  God,  in  the  gloomy  darkness 
of  our  adversity,  cannot  but  be  most  pleasing  in 
thine  ears.  Thine  Apostle  bids  us  (which  is  our 
ordinary  wont)  when  we  are  merry  to  sing;  when 
afflicted  to  pray ;  but  if,  when  we  are  afflicted, 
we  can  sing ;  as  also,  when  we  are  merriest,  we 
can  pray  ;  that  song  must  needs  be  so  much  more 
acceptable  unto  Thee,  as  it  is  a  more  powerful 
effect  of  the  joy  of  Thy  Holy  Ghost. 

O  my  God,  I  am  conscious  of  my  own  infirmi- 
ty :  I  know  I  am  naturally  subject  to  a  dull 
heaviness,  under  'whatsoever  affliction.  Thou, 
that  art  the  God  of  all  comfort,  remedy  this  heart- 
less disposition  in  me ;  pull  this  lead  out  of  my 
bosom  :  make  me  not  patient  only,  but  cheerful, 
under  my  trials :  fill  Thou  ray  heart  with  joy, 


188  CONSOLATIO. 

and  my  mouth  with  songs,  in  the  night  of  my 
tribulation. 

As  there  is  a  perfect  union  betwixt  the  glorious 
saints  in  heaven,  and  a  union  (though  imperfect) 
betwixt  the  saints  on  earth,  so  there  is  a  union 
(partly  perfect  and  partly  imperfect)  between  the 
saints  in  heaven  and  the  saints  below  upon  earth  ; 
perfect  in  respect  of  those  glorified  saints  above, 
imperfect  in  respect  of  the  weak  returns  we  are 
able  to  make  them  again.  Let  no  man  think,  that 
because  those  blessed  souls  are  out  of  sight,  far 
distant  in  another  world,  and  we  are  here  toiling 
in  a  vale  of  tears,  that  we  have  therefore  lost  all 
mutual  regard  to  each  other ;  no,  there  is  still,  and 
ever  will  be,  a  secret  but  unfailing  correspondence 
between  heaven  and  earth.  The  present  happi- 
ness of  those  heavenly  citizens  cannot  have 
abated  aught  of  their  knowledge  and  charity,  but 
must  needs  have  raised  them  to  a  higher  pitch 
of  both.  They,  therefore,  who  are  now  glorious 
comprehensors,  carmot  but  in  a  generality  retain 
the  notice  of  the  sad  condition  of  us  poor  travel- 
lers here  below,  panting  towards  our  rest  together 
with  them,  and  in  common  wish  for  the  happy 
consummation  of  this  our  weary  pilgrimage,  in 
the  fruition  of  their  glory.  That  they  have  any 
perspective  whereby  they  can  see  down  into  our 
particular  wants,  is  that  which  we  find  no  ground 
to  believe.     It  is  enough  that  they  have  an  uni- 


CONSOLATIO.  133 

versal  apprehension  of  the  estate  of  Christ's 
warfaring  Church  upon  the  face  of  the  earth, 
(Rev.  vi.  10),  and,  as  fellow-members  of  the  same 
mystical  body,  long  for  a  perfect  glorification  of 
the  whole. 

As  for  us  wretched  pilgrims,  who  are  yet  left 
here  below  to  try  with  many  difficulties,  we  can- 
not forget  that  better  half  of  us  which  is  now 
triumphant  in  glory.  O  ye  blessed  saints  above, 
we  honor  your  memories  so  far  as  we  ought;  we 
do  with  praise  recount  your  virtues ;  we  mag- 
nify your  victories ;  we  bless  God  for  your  happy 
exemption  from  the  misery  of  this  world,  and  for 
your  estate  in  that  blessed  immortality;  we 
imitate  your  holy  examples ;  we  long  and  pray 
for  a  happy  consociation  with  you  ;  we  dare  not 
raise  temples,  dedicate  altars,  direct  prayers,  to 
you ;  we  dare  not,  finally,  offer  any  thing  to  you 
which  you  are  unwilling  to  receive,  nor  put  any 
thing  upon  you  which  you  would  disclaim  as 
prejudicial  to  your  Creator  and  Redeemer.  It  is 
abundant  comfort  to  us  that  some  part  of  us  is  in 
the  fruition  of  that  glory,  whereto  we  (the  other 
poor  labouring  part)  desire  and  strive  to  aspire; 
that  our  heads  and  shoulders  are  above  water, 
whilst  the  other  limbs  are  yet  wading  through 
the  stream. 

If  ever  thou  look  for  sound  comfort  on  earth, 
and  salvation  in  heaven,  unglue  thyself  from  the 


CONSOLATIO. 


world,  and  the  vanities  of  it;  put  thyself  upon 
thy  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ;  leave  not  till 
thou  findest  thyself  firmly  united  to  Him,  so  as 
thou  art  become  a  limb  of  that  body  whereof  He 
is  the  Head,  a  spouse  of  that  husband,  a  branch 
of  that  stem,  a  stone  laid  upon  that  foundation. 
Look  not,  therefore,  for  any  blessing  out  of  Him  : 
and  in,  and  by,  and  from  Him,  look  for  all  bless- 
ings; let  Him  be  thy  life,  and  wish  not  to  live 
longer  than  thou  art  quickened  by  Him;  find 
Him  thy  wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctificalion, 
redemption ;  thy  riches,  thy  strength,  thy  glory. 
Apply  unto  thyself  all  that  thy  Saviour  is,  or 
hath  done.  Wouldst  thou  have  the  graces  of 
God's  Spirit?  —  fetch  them  from  His  anointing. 
Wouldst  thou  have  power  against  spiritual  ene- 
mies?—  fetch  it  from  His  sovereignty.  Wouldst 
thou  have  redemption  ?  —  fetch  it  from  His  pas- 
sion. Wouldst  thou  have  absolution?  —  fetch  it 
from  His  perfect  innocence.  Freedom  from  the 
curse?  —  fetch  it  from  His  Cross.     Satisfaction? 

—  fetch  it  from  His  sacrifice.  Cleansing  from 
sin?  —  fetch   it   from   his  blood.     Mortification? 

—  fetch  it  from  His  grave.  Newness  of  life?  — 
fetch  it  from  His  resurrection.     Right  to  heaven  ? 

—  fetch  it  from  His  purchase.  Audience  in  all 
thy  suits?  —  fetch  it  from  His  intercession. 
Wouldst  thou  have  salvation  ?  —  fetch  it  from 
His  session  at  the  right  hand  of  Majesty.  Wouldst 


CONSOLATIO.  185 

thou  have  alH  —  fetch  it  from  Him  who  is  "one 
Lord,  one  God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  above 
all,  through  all,  and  in  all."  (Eph.  iv.  5,  6.) 
And  as  thy  faith  shall  thus  interest  thee  in  Christ, 
thy  Head ;  so  let  thy  charity  unite  thee  to  His 
body  the  Church,  both  in  earth  and  heaven. 
Hold  ever  an  inviolable  communion  with  that 
holy  and  blessed  fraternity.  Sever  not  thyself 
from  it  either  in  judgment  or  affection.  Make 
account  there  is  not  one  of  God's  saints  upon 
earth  but  hath  a  property  in  thee,  and  thou  may- 
est  challenge  the  same  in  each  of  them,  so  that 
thou  canst  not  but  be  sensible  of  their  passions; 
and  be  freely  communicative  of  all  thy  graces, 
and  all  serviceable  offices,  by  example,  admoni- 
tion, exhortation,  consolation,  prayer,  beneficence, 
for  the  good  of  that  sacred  community. 

And  when  thou  raisest  up  thine  eyes  to  heaven, 
think  of  that 'glorious  society  of  blessed  saints 
who  are  gone  before  thee,  and  are  now  there 
triumphing,  and  reigning  in  eternal  and  incom- 
prehensible glory;  bless  God  for  them,  and  wish 
thyself  with  them;  tread  in  their  holy  steps,  and 
be  ambitious  of  that  crown  of  glory  and  immor- 
tality which  thou  seest  shining  on  their  heads. 


4IH  CONSOLATIO. 


Admirable  directions  for  a  sick  person  to  follow. 

When  these  things  are  taken  care  for,  let  the 
sick  man  so  order  his  affairs,  that  he  have  but 
very  little  conversation  with  the  world,  but  wholly 
(as  he  can)  attend  to  religion,  and  antedate  his 
•  conversation  in  heaven,  always  having  intercourse 
with  God,  and  still  conversing  with  the  holy 
Jesus ;  kissing  His  wounds,  admiring  His  good- 
ness, begging  His  mercy,  feeding  on  Him  with 
faith,  and  drinking  His  blood;  to  which  purpose 
it  were  very  fit  (if  all  circumstances  be  answer- 
able), that  the  narrative  of  the  passion  of  Christ 
be  read  or  discoursed  to  him  at  length,  or  in  brief, 
according  to  the  style  of  the  four  Gospels ;  but,  in 
all  things,  let  his  care  and  society  be  as  little  secu- 
lar as  is  possible. 

Now  we  suppose  the  man  entering  upon  his 
scene  of  sorrows  and  passive  graces.  It  may  be 
he  went  yesterday  to  a  wedding,  merry  and  brisk, 
and  there  he  felt  his  sentence  that  he  must  return 
home  and  die ;  then  he  must  consider  that  all 
those  discourses  he  hath  heard  concerning  patience 
and  resignation,  and  conformity  to  Christ's  suffer- 
ings, and  the  melancholy  lectures  of  the  cross, 
must,  all  of  them,  now  be  reduced  to  practice,  and 
pass  from  an  effective  contemplation  to  such  an 
exercise  as  will  really  try  whether  we  were  true 


CONSOLATIO.  137 

disciples  of  the  cross,  or  only  believed  the  doctrines , 
of  religion  when  we  were  at  ease,  and  that  they 
never  passed  through  the  ear  to  the  heart,  and 
dwelt  not  in  our  spirits.  But  every  man  should 
consider  God  does  nothing  in  vain  ;  that  He 
would  not,  to  no  purpose,  send  us  preachers,  and 
gives  us  rules,  and  furnish  us  with  discourse,  and 
lend  us  books,  and  provide  sermons,  and  make 
examples,  and  promise  His  Spirit,  and  describe 
the  blessedness  of  holy  sufferings,  and  prepare  us 
with  daily  alarms,  if  He  did  not  really  purpose  to 
order  our  affairs,  so  that  we  should  need  all  this, 
and  use  it  all.  There  were  no  such  thing  as  the 
grace  of  patience,  if  we  were  not  to  feel  a  sick- 
ness, or  enter  into  a  state  of  sufferings  ;  whither, 
when  we  are  entered,  we  are  to  practise  by  the 
following  rules. 

At  the  first  address  and  presence  of  sickness, 
stand  still  and  arrest  thy  spirit,  that  it  may,  with- 
out amazement  or  affright,  consider  that  this  was 
that  thou  lookedst  for,  and  wert  always  certain 
should  happen :  and  that  now  thou  art  to  enter 
into  the  actions  of  a  new  religion,  the  agony  of 
a  strange  constitution  ;  but  at  no  hand  suffer  thy 
spirits  to  be  dispersed  with  fear  or  wildness  of 
thought,  but  stay  their  looseness  and  dispersion 
by  a  serious  consideration  of  the  present  and 
future  employment.  For  so  doth  the  Libyan, 
spying  the  fierce  huntsman,   first  beats  himself 


138  CONSOLATIO. 

with  the  strokes  of  his  tail,  and  curls  up  his 
spirits,  making  them  strong  with  union  and  recol- 
lection, till,  being  struck  with  a  Mauritanian  spear, 
he  rushes  forth  into  his  defence  and  noblest  con- 
tention, and  either  escapes  into  the  secrets  of  his 
own  dwelling,  or  else  dies  the  bravest  of  the  forest. 
Every  man,  when  shot  with  an  arrow  from  God's 
quiver,  must  then  draw  in  the  auxiliaries  of  rea- 
son, and  know  that  then  is  the  time  to  try  his 
strength,  and  to  reduce  the  words  of  religion  into 
action.  Let  Him  set  his  heart  firm  upon  this 
resolution :  "  I  must  bear  it  inevitably ;  and  I  will, 
by  God's  grace,  do  it  nobly." 

Bear,  in  thy  sickness,  all  along  the  same 
thoughts,  propositions,  and  discourses,  concerning 
thy  person,  thy  life  and  death,  thy  soul  and  reli- 
gion, which  thou  hadst  in  the  best  days  of  thy 
health  ;  and  when  thou  didst  discourse  wisely 
concerning  things  spiritual.  Consider,  when  you 
were  better  able  to  judge  and  govern  the  accidents 
of  your  life,  you  concluded  it  necessary  to  trust 
in  God,  and  possess  your  souls  with  patience. 
Think  of  things  as  they  think  who  stand  by  you, 
and  as  you  did  when  you  stood  by  others :  that  it 
is  a  blessed  thing  to  be  patient ;  that  a  quietness 
of  spirit  hath  a  certain  reward  :  that  still  there  is 
infinite  truth  and  reality  in  the  promises  of  the 
Gospel ;  that  still  thou  art  in  the  care  of  God,  in 
the  condition  of  a  son,  and  working  out  thy  salva- 


CONSOLATIO.  139 

tion  with  labour  and  pain,  with  fear  and  trem- 
bling; that  now  the  sun  is  under  a  cloud,  but  it 
still  sends  forth  the  same  influence. 

Do  not  choose  the  kind  of  thy  sickness,  or  the 
manner  of  thy  death  ;  but  let  it  be  what  God 
please,  so  it  be  no  greater  than  thy  spirit  or  thy 
patience,  and  for  that  you  are  to  rely  upon  the 
promise  of  God,  and  to  secure  thyself  by  prayer 
and  industry ;  but  in  all  things  else  let  God  be 
thy  chooser,  and  let  it  be  thy  work  to  submit  in- 
diflerently,  and  attend  thy  duty.  Be  importunate, 
that  thy  spirit  and  its  interest  be  secured,  and  let 
Him  do  what  seemeth  good  in  His  eyes.  And  as, 
in  the  degrees  of  sickness,  thou  art  to  submit  to 
God,  so  in  the  kind  of  it  (supposing  equal  degrees) 
thou  art  to  be  altogether  incurious  whether  God 
will  call  thee  by  a  consumption  or  an  asthma,  by 
a  dropsy  or  a  palsy,  by  a  fever  in  thy  humours, 
or  a  fever  in  thy  spirits ;  because  all  such  nicety 
of  choice  is  nothing  but  a  colour  to  a  legitimate 
impatience,  and  to  make  an  excuse  to  murmur 
privately,  and  for  circumstances,  when  in  the  sum 
of  affairs  we  durst  not  own  impatience. 

Be  patient  in  the  desires  of  religion,  and  take 
care  that  the  forwardness  of  exterior  actions  do 
not  discompose  thy  spirit ;  while  thou  fearest  that 
by  less  serving  God  in  thy  disability,  thou  run- 
nest  backward  in  the  accounts  of  pardon  and  the 
favour  of  God.     Be  content  that  the  time,  which 


140  CONSOLATIO. 

was  formerly  spent  in  prayer,  be  now  spent  in 
carefulness  and  attendances ;  since  God  hath 
pleased  it  should  be  so,  it  does  not  become  us  to 
think  hard  thoughts  concerning  it.  Do  not  think 
that  God  is  only  to  be  found  in  a  great  prayer  or 
a  solemn  office ;  He  is  moved  by  a  sigh,  by  a 
groan,  by  an  act  of  love ;  and  therefore,  whea 
your  pain  is  great  and  pungent,  lay  all  your 
strength  upon  it  to  bear  it  patiently ;  when  the 
evil  is  somewhat  more  tolerable,  let  your  mind 
think  some  pious,  though  short  meditation  ;  let  it 
not  be  very  busy,  and  full  of  attention,  for  that 
will  be  but  a  new  temptation  to  your  patience,  and 
render  your  religion  tedious  and  hateful.  If'  you 
can  do  more,  do  it;  but  if  you  cannot,  let  it  not 
become  a  scruple  to  thee.  We  must  not  think 
man  is  tied  to  the  forms  of  health,  or  that  he  who 
swoons  and  faints  is  obliged  to  his  usual  forms 
and  hours  of  prayer;  if  we  cannot  labour,  yet  let 
us  love ;  nothing  can  hinder  us  from  that  but  our 
own  uncharitableness. 

Be  obedient  to  thy  physician  in  those  things 
that  concern  him,  if  he  be  a  person  fit  to  minister 
unto  thee.  God  is  He  only  that  needs  no  help, 
and  God  hath  created  the  physician  for  thine ; 
therefore  use  Him  temperately,  without  violent 
confidence;  and  sweetly,  without  uncivil  distrust- 
ings.  Physicians  are  the  ministers  of  God's  mer- 
cies and  providence,  in  the  matter  of  health  and 


CONSOLATIO.  141 

ease,  of  restitution  or  death  ;  and  when  God  shall 
enable  their  judgments,  and  direct  their  counsels, 
and  prosper  their  medicines,  they  shall  do  thee 
good,  for  which  you  must  give  God  thanks,  and 
to  the  physician  the  honour  of  a  blessed  instru- 
ment :  but  this  cannot  always  be  done. 

Treat  thy  nurses  and  servants  sweetly,  and  as 
it  becomes  an  obliged  and  necessitous  person. 
Remember  that  thou  art  very  troublesome  to 
them ;  that  they  trouble  not  thee  willingly ;  that 
they  strive  to  do  thee  ease  and  benefit ;  that  they 
wish  it,  and  sigh  and  pray  for  it,  and  are  glad  if 
thou  likest  their  attendance ;  that  whatsoever  is 
amiss  is  thy  disease,  and  the  uneasiness  of  thy 
head  9r  thy  side,  thy  distemper  or  thy  disaffec- 
tions;  and  it  will  be  an  unhandsome  injustice  to 
be  troublesome  to  them,  because  thou  art  so  to 
thyself.  ,  i>;  h 

Let  not  the  smart  of  your  sickness  make  you  to 
call  violently  for  death  ;  you  are  not  patient  unless 
you  be  content  to  live.  God  hath  made  sufferance 
to  be  thy  work ;  and  do  not  impatiently  long  for 
evening,  lest  at  night  thou  findest  the  reward  of 
him  that  was  weary  of  his  work. 


If  I  felt  for  the  disorder  and  danger  of  my  soul, 
as  I  do  for  my  body  in  pain  and  sickness,  I  should 
look  out  every  way  for  help;  be  a  thousand  times 


142  CONSOLATIO. 

more  anxious  for  its  recovery  than  I  am  ;  submit 
to  any  method  of  cure,  and  say  mifeignedly  to 
God,  '•  Ure,  feri^  seca;'^  that  is,  "Burn,  strike, 
cut." 


Spring  time^  and  the  final  regeneration. 

Let  these  be  your  thoughts,  brethren,  especially 
in  the  spring  season,  when  the  whole  face  of  nature 
is  so  rich  and  beautiful.  Once  only  in  the  year 
does  the  world  which  we  see,  show  forth  its  hid- 
den powers,  and  in  a  manner  manifest  itself;  then 
the  leaves  come  out,  and  the  blossoms  on  the 
fruit-trees  and  flowers,  and  the  grass  and  corn 
spring  up.  There  is  a  sudden  rush  and  burst  out- 
wardly of  that  hidden  life  which  God  has  lodged 
in  the  material  world.  Well,  that  shows  you,  as 
by  a  sample,  what  it  can  do  at  God's  command, 
when  He  gives  the  word.  This  earth,  which  now 
buds  forth  in  leaves  and  blossoms,  will  one  day 
burst  forth  into  a  new  world  of  life  and  glory,  in 
which  we  shall  see  saints  and  angels  dwelling. 
Who  would  think,  except  from  his  experience  of 
former  springs,  all  through  his  life,  —  who  would 
conceive  two  or  three  months  before,  that  it  was 
possible  that  the  face  of  nature,  which  then  seemed 
so  lifeless,  should  become  so  splendid  and  vain? 
How  different  is  a  tree,  how  different  is  a  prospect, 


CONSOLATIO.  143 

when  leaves  are  on  it  and  off  it !     How  unlikely 
it  would  seem  before  the  event,  that  the  dry  and 
naked  branches  should  suddenly  be  clothed  with 
what  is  so  bright  and  refreshing !     Yet  in  God's 
good  time,  leaves  come  on  the  trees.     The  season 
may  delay,  but  come  it  will  at  last.     So  it  is  with 
the  coming  of  that  Eternal  Spring,  for  which  all 
Christians  are  waiting.     Come  it  will,  though  it 
delay ;  yet  though  it  tarry,  let  us  wait  for  it,  be- 
cause it  will  surely  come,  it  will  not  tarry.  There- 
fore, we  say  day  by  day,  " Thy  kingdom  come; " 
which   means,   O   Lord,   show  thyself,  manifest 
thyself;  Thou  that  sittest  between  the  cherubims, 
show  thyself;  stir  up  thy  strength,  and  come  and 
help  us.     The  earth  that  we  see  does  not  satisfy 
us ;  it  is  but  a  beginning ;  it  is  but  a  promise  of 
something  beyond  it;  even  when  it  is  gayest,  with 
all  its  blossoms  on,  and  shows  most  touchingly 
what  lies  hid  in  it,  yet  it  is  not  enough.     We 
know  much  more  lies  hid  in  it  than  we  see.     A 
world  of  saints  and  angels,  a  glorious  world,  the 
palace  of  God,  the  mountain  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts, 
the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  the  throne  of  God  and 
Christ;  all  these  wonders,  everlasting,  all-precious, 
mysterious,  incomprehensible,  lie  hid  in  what  we 
see.     What  we  see  is   the  outward  shell  of  an 
eternal  kingdom,  and  on  that  kingdom  we  fix  the 
eyes  of  our  faith.     Shine  forth,  O  Lord,  as  when 
on  thy  nativity  thine  angels  visited  the  shepherds ; 


144  CONSOLATIO. 

let  thy  glory  blossom  forth  as  bloom  and  foliage ; 
change  with  thy  mighty  power  this  visible  world 
into  that  diviner  world,  which  as  yet  we  see  not; 
destroy  what  we  see,  that  it  may  pass,  and  be 
transformed  into  what  we  believe.  Bright  as  is  the 
sun,  and  the  sky,  and  the  clouds ;  green  as  are 
the  leaves  and  the  fields  ;  sweet  as  is  the  singing 
of  the  birds  ;  we  know  that  they  are  not  all,  and 
we  will  not  take  up  with  a  part  for  the  whole. 
They  proceed  from  a  centre  of  love  and  goodness, 
which  is  God  Himself;  but  they  are  not  His  ful- 
ness ;  they  speak  of  heaven,  but  they  are  not 
heaven  :  they  are  but  as  stray  beams  and  dim  re- 
flections of  His  image  ;  they  are  but  crumbs  from 
His  table.  We  are  looking  for  the  coming  of  the 
day  of  God,  when  all  this  outward  world,  fair 
though  it  be,  shall  perish  ;  when  the  heavens  shall 
be  burnt,  and  the  earth  melt  away.  We  can  bear 
the  loss,  for  we  know  it  will  be  but  the  removing 
of  a  veil.  We  know  that  to  remove  the  world 
which  is  seen,  will  be  the  manifestation  of  the 
world  which  is  not  seen.  W'e  know  that  what 
we  see  is  as  a  screen  hiding  from  us  God  and 
Christ,  and  His  saints  and  angels ;  and  we  ear- 
nestly desire  and  pray  for  the  dissolution  of  all  that 
we  see,  from  our  love  and  longing  after  that  which 
we  do  not  see.  O  blessed  they  indeed,  who  are 
destined  for  a  sight  of  those  wonders  in  which 
they  now  stand,  at  which   they  now  look,  but 


I 


CONSOLATIO.  145 

which  they  do  not  recognize !  Blessed  they 
who  shall  at  length  behold  what  as  yet  mortal 
eye  hath  not  seen,  and  faith  only  enjoys  !  Those 
wonderful  things  of  the  new  world  are  even  now 
as  they  shall  be  then.  They  are  immortal  and 
eternal ;  and  they  who  shaHl  then  be  made  con- 
scious of  them  will  see  them  in  their  calmness 
and  their  majesty,  where  they  ever  have  been. 
But  who  can  express  the  surprise  and  rapture 
which  will  come  upon  those,  who  then  at  least 
apprehend  them  for  the  first  time,  and  to  whose 
perceptions  they  are  new  1  Who  can  imagine, 
by  a  stretch  of  fancy,  the  feelings  of  those,  who, 
having  died  in  faith,  wake  up  to  enjoyment? 
The  life  then  begun,  we  know,  will  last  for  ever; 
yet  surely,  if  memory  be  to  us  then  what  it  is 
now,  that  will  be  a  day  much  to  be  observed  unto 
the  Lord,  through  all  the  ages  of  eternity.  We 
may  increase,  indeed,  for  ever  in  knowledge  and 
in  love  ;  still  that  first  awakening  from  the  dead, 
the  day  at  once  of  our  birth  and  our  espousal,  will 
ever  be  endeared  and  hallowed  in  our  thoughts. 
When  we  find  ourselves,  after  long  rest,  gifted 
with  fresh  powers,  vigorous  with  the  seed  of  eter- 
nal life  within  us,  able  to  love  God  as  we  wish, 
conscious  that  all  trouble,  sorrow,  pain,  anxiety, 
and  bereavement,  is  over  for  ever;  blest  in  the 
full  affection  of  those  earthly  friends  whom  we 
loved  so  poorly,  and  could  protect  so  feebly,  while 
10 


146  CONSOLATIO. 

they  were  with  ns  in  the  flesh ;  and,  above  all, 
visited  with  the  immediate,  visible,  ineffable  pre- 
sence of  God  Almighty,  with  His  only-begottea 
Son  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  His  co-equal,  co- 
eternal  Spirit;  that  great  sight  in  which  is  the 
fulness  of  joy  and  pleasure  for  evermore  !  What 
deep  incommunicable  and  unimaginable  thoughts 
will  be  then  upon  us !  What  depths  will  be  stirred 
up  within  us  !  What  secret  harmonies  awak- 
ened, of  which  human  nature  seemed  incapable ! 
Earthly  words  are  indeed  all  worthless  to  minister 
to  such  high  anticipations.  Let  us  close  our  eyes, 
and  keep  silence. 


Communion  with  the  invisible  world,  a  source  of 
strength  and  comfort. 

The  world  is  no  help-meet  for  man,  and  a  help- 
meet he  needs.  No  one,  man  or  woman,  can 
stand  alone ;  we  are  so  constituted  by  nature ; 
and  the  world,  instead  of  helping  us,  is  an  open 
adversary;  it  but  increases  our  solitariness. 

Elijah  cried,  "  1  only  am  left,  and  they  seek 
my  life  to  take  it  away."  How  did  Almighty  God 
answer  him?  By  graciously  telling  him  that  He 
had  reserved  to  Himself  a  remnant  of  seven  thou- 
sand true  believers.  Such  is  the  blessed  truth 
He  brings  home  to  us  also ;  we  may  be  full  of 


CONSOLATIO,  147 

sorrows  ;  there  may  be  fightings  without,  and 
fears  within  :  we  may  be  exposed  to  the  frowns, 
censure,  or  contempt  of  men ;  we  may  be  shunned 
by  them,  or  to  take  the  lightest  case,  we  may  be 
(as  we  certainly  shall  be)  wearied  out  by  the  un- 
profitableness of  this  world,  by  its  coldness  and 
unfriendliness,  distance  and  dreariness,  we  shall 
need  something  nearer  to  us.  What  is  our  re- 
source? It  is  not  in  arm  of  man,  in  flesh  and 
blood,  in  voice  of  friend,  or  in  pleasant  counte- 
nance; it  is  that  holy  home  which  God  has  given 
us  in  His  Church ;  it  is  in  that  everlasting  city  in 
which  He  has  fixed  His  abode ;  it  is  that  mount 
invisible,  where  angels  are  looking  at  us  with 
their  piercing  eyes,  and  the  voices  of  the  dead  call 

"^-         *  *  *  *  ♦ 

Leave,  then,  this  earthly  scene,  O  virgin  soul  ; 
aim  at  a  higher  prize,  a  nobler  companionship. 
Enter  into  the  tabernacle  of  God.  Satan  may  do 
his  worst;  he  may  afflict  thee  sore ;  he  may  wound 
thee,  he  may  brand  thee ;  he  may  cripple  thee  as 
regards  this  world,  but  he  cannot  touch  thee  in 
things  spiritual ;  he  has  no  power  over  thee  to 
bring  thee  into  God's  displeasure.  O  virgin  soul, 
let  this  be  thy  stay  in  the  dark  day.  When  thou 
art  sick  of  the -world,  to  whom  shouldst  thou  go? 
To  none  short  of  Him  who  is  the  Heavenly  Spouse 
of  every  faithful  soul. 

*  *  *  *  4^ 


148  CONSOLATIO. 

Though  thou  art  in  a  body  of  flesh,  a  member 
of  this  world,  thou  hast  but  to  kneel  down  rever- 
ently in  prayer,  and  thou  art  at  once  in  the  society 
of  saints  and  angels.  Wherever  thou  art,  thou 
canst,  by  God's  incomprehensible  mercy,  in  a 
moment  bring  thyself  into  the  midst  of  God's  holy 
Church  invisible,  and  receive  secretly  that  aid, 
the  very  thought  of  which  is  a  present  sensible 
blessing.  Art  thou  afflicted  7  Thou  canst  pray. 
Art  thou  merry  ?  Thou  canst  sing  psalms.  Art 
thou  lonely,  does  the  day  run  heavily  ?  Fall  on 
thy  knees,  and  thy  thoughts  are  at  once  relieved 
by  the  idea  and  the  reality  of  thy  unseen  com' 
panions.  Art  thou  tempted  to  sin  7  Think  steadily 
of  those  who  perchance  witness  thy  doings  from 
God's  secret  dwelling-place.  Hast  thou  lost 
friends?  Realize  them  by  faith.  Art  thou  slan- 
dered 7  Thou  hast  the  praise  of  angels.  Art  thou 
under  trial  7     Thou  hast  their  sympathy. 


•:  i 


Godf  the  author  of  our  sorrow. 

In  this  chapter^  God  points  Himself  out  to  us  as 
the  Author  of  affiiction.  He  makes  no  attempt  to 
conceal  or  disguise  himself;  on  the  contrary,  He 
rather  forces  Himself  on  our  notice  as  the  source 
of  His  people's  troubles.     It  was   the  Assyrian 

1  Hosea,  ii. 


CONSOLATIO.  149 

awny  that  laid  Israel  waste;  it  was  the  cruelty  of 
her  enemies  that  desolated  her  country,  and  carried 
her  into  a  wretched  captivity ;  but  not  a  word  is 
said  in  this  chapter,  of  man  or  his  violence  :  the 
God  of  Israel  seems  determined  to  keep  all  but 
Himself  out  of  our  sight.  "I,"  He  says,  "will 
take  away  my  corn  and  my  wine."  "I  will  des- 
troy her  vines  and  her  fig-trees."  "I  will  cause 
all  her  mirth  to  cease."  "  I  will  visit  upon  her  the 
days  of  Baalim."  "I  will  bring  her  into  the 
wilderness."  Now,  why  this  anxiety  in  a  God  of 
love  to  stand  thus  forward  as  the  author  of  misery ; 
and  misery,  observe,  among  people  He  loves  the 
most?  For  two  reasons.  First,  because  we  are 
so  backward  in  affliction  to  discern  his  hand.  We 
say,  indeed,  when  it  comes,  "  It  is  the  work  of 
God;"  but  we  do  not  half  believe  what  we  say  : 
we  have  no  deep  or  lively  impression  of  its  truth. 
There  is  often  lurking  within  us  a  conviction 
directly  opposed  to  it :  else  why  that  restless 
anxiety  in  trouble,  to  look  so  closely  into  second 
causes?  Why  are  our  minds  continually  going 
over  the  circumstances  that  have  led  to  our  cala- 
mities ?  Why  does  one  of  us  say,  "  Had  this  been 
let  alone,  my  buried  friend  might  have  been 
spared."  And  another,  "  Had  that  been  done,  my 
poor  child  might  not  have  sunk."  And  a  third, 
"  In  any  other  situation,  my  withered  health  might 
have  stood  firm." 


150  CONSOLATIO. 

*■*  There  may  be  some  truth  in  all  this,  but  the 
incessant  dweUing  of  our  minds  on  it  shows 
how  we  labour  to  push  God  out  of  our  concerns; 
how  unwilling  our  sinful  hearts  are  in  all  situations 
to  acknowledge  or  even  perceive  His  hand. 

Bat  He  has  another  reason  for  ascribing  to  Him- 
self our  trials.  We  can  get  no  good  out  of  afflic- 
tion, no  real  comfort  under  it,  till  we  view  it  as 
sent  to  us  from  Him.  The  man  of  the  world 
regards  affliction  as  "coming  forth  of  the  dust," 
and  trouble  as  "  springing  out  of  the  ground."  It 
is  the  necessary  result,  he  conceives,  of  our  present 
condition  and  circumstances;  and  where  is  the 
benefit  that  he  derives  from  sorrow  ?  It  works  in 
him  no  submission,  it  brings  out  of  him  no  praise. 
It  is  when  the  mind  discovers  God  at  the  very  root 
of  its  sufferings ;  when  it  sees  Him  desolating  its 
comforts,  and  robbing  it  of  its  joys  with  His  own 
hand;  when  every  grave  seems  dug  by  Him,  and 
every  loss  and  every  pang  are  felt  to  be  His  work; 
when  it  cannot  banish  Him  from  its  thoughts,  nor 
disconnect  with  Him  one  of  its  griefs,  nor  even 
wish  to  do  either :  it  is  then  that  the  soul  begins 
to  bethink  itself,  and  the  heart  to  soften,  and  man's 
proud,  rebellious,  stubborn  spirit  to  give  way. 
Then  the  knee  bends,  and  the  prayer  goes  up,  and 
the  blessing  comes  down.  Then,  for  the  first 
time,  we  are  quieted  and  subdued.  "I  was 
dumb,"  said  David,  "and  opened  not  my  mouth, 


CONSOLATIO.  151 

because  thou  didst  it."  "  It  is  the  Lord,"  said 
EU;  and  then  that  poor  old  parent  could  add, 
"  Let  Him  do  what  seemeth  Him  good."  And 
this  conviction  will  carry  us  yet  farther.  Only  let 
a  man  once  see  that  a  Father's  hand  has  mingled 
his  cup  of  bitterness,  and  he  will  soon  do  more 
than  say,  "Shall  I  not  drink  it 7"  His  heart  may 
^be  half  breaking,  but  there  is  something  within 
that  heart,  which,  ere  he  is  aware,  will  force  his 
lips  to  praise.  "  The  Lord  gave,"  said  Job,  "  and 
the  Lord  hath  taken  away;"  and  then  comes  this 
noble,  but  yet  natural  exclamation,  "  Blessed  be 
the  name  of  the  Lord." 


What  it  is  to  he  with  Christ. 

"  Father,  I  will  that  they  also,  whom  thou  hast 
given  me,  be  with  me  where  I  am,  that  they  may 
behold  my  glory."  ^  Mark  where  the  presence  of 
Christ  is  to  be  enjoyed.  He  prays  that  we  may 
be  with  Him,  "  where  He  is."  Now  in  the  Spirit, 
He  is  every  where.  He  is  God,  and  as  God  He 
fills  all  space  with  His  existence  :  He  must  speak 
therefore,  here,  of  that  world  wherein  He  manifests 
His  presence,  where  He  dwells  in  the  body,  where 
He  even  now  lives  and  reigns  as  the  glorified  Son 

'''  J    ■  '  John,  xvii.  24. 


162  CONSOLATIO. 

of  Man.  And  this  is  to  be  not  only  with  the  most 
glorious  Being  in  the  universe,  but  with  Him  in 
the  most  glorious  place ;  in  the  place  which  He 
calls  His  own  kingdom,  His  own  city.  His  own 
bouse ;  a  world  which  He  has  built  to  show  forth 
His  power,  to  declare  His  greatness  by  its  magni- 
ficence as  gloriously  as  any  material  things  can 
declare  it ;  so  gloriously,  that  when  we  see  it,  we 
shall  deem  it  almost  worthy  to  be  His  dwelling. 
To  be  with  Him  there,  is  to  be  with  Him  in  a  world 
from  which  all  sorrow  and  sin  are  excluded,  where 
not  a  single  unholy  feeling  is  ever  experienced, 
nor  a  single  tear  shed,  nor  sigh  breathed ;  where 
the  weary  soul  may  rest,  and  the  troubled  soul  be 
quiet,  and  the  tempted  soul  repose,  and  the  fettered 
soul  be  free.  It  is  to  be  with  Him  not  alone,  but 
with  the  highest  and  best  society  the  universe  can 
afford;  with  cherubim  and  seraphim,  with  the 
patriarchs  and  fathers,  with  apostles,  and  prophets, 
and  martyrs.  It  is  to  meet  again  in  His  blissful 
presence  the  companions  of  our  youth  ;  the  parents, 
and  children,  and  friends,  whom  death  has  sepa- 
rated from  us,  or  distance  severed,  or  infirmity 
estranged;  and  to  meet  them  where  death  can 
touch  them  no  more,  where  distance  can  never  in- 
tervene, nor  passions  disturb.  In  a  word,  it  is  to 
be  where  the  Lord  Christ  Himself  delights  to  be; 
where  He  finds  the  materials  of  joy  for  His  own 
wonderful  soul.    It  is  to  see  His  face  in  its  bright- 


CONSOLATIO.  153 

ness,  to  hear  His  voice  in  His  happiness,  to  sit 
down  at  His  glorified  feet.  It  is  for  the  abased 
members  of  the  body  to  be  united  to  the  triumphant 
Head:  it  is  to  meet  the  Bridegroom  in  all  the 
radiance  and  joy  of  the  bridal  morning ;  it  is  to  be 
with  the  incarnate  Jehovah  in  Jehovah's  own 
everlasting  heavens. 

With  such  a  prospect  before  us,  shall  we  not  say 
one  to  another,  Let  us  lift  up  our  heads  with  joy 
amidst  the  troubles  of  an  evil  world  ?  We  are  to 
sojourn  in  Mesech  but  a  little  longer  ;  we  are  soon 
to  take  our  leave  for  ever  of  the  tents  of  Kedar ; 
we  are  already  within  the  distant  rays  of  that 
glory  which  is  our  sure  inheritance ;  and  can 
the  light  afflictions  of  the  present  time  have  more 
power  to  depress,  than  that  "far  more  exceeding 
and  eternal  weight  of  glory  "  has  to  elevate  and 
gladden  us  1  Oh,  no  !  Our  concern  shall  be  to 
feel  and  act  like  men  who  are  going  to  a  happy 
and  holy  Saviour,  in  a  holy  and  happy  world. 
We  will  labor  to  have  "our  conversation  in  hea- 
ven ;"  to  catch  something  of  its  spirit  before  we 
enter  into  its  joy. 


The  experience  and  possession  of  divine  pity  is 
better  than  bodily  ease,  freedom  from  trouble,  or 
the  greatest  worldly  prosperity. 


154  CONSOLATIO. 

Crreat  sufferings  a  preparation  for  great  glory. 

Preparation  for  higher  degrees  of  glory  is  like- 
wise wrought  by  the  grace  of  God,  through  the 
agency  of  suffering,  and  should  much  reconcile  us 
to  the  cup.  Grace  in  our  hearts  is  indeed  created, 
planted,  and  watered,  by  the  hand  and  Spirit  of 
the  living  God;  but  it  is  also  strengthened  to  per- 
fection under  His  power,  by  the  exercise  of  afflic- 
tion. Doubt  not  but  that  the  highest  who  will 
ascend  to  glory  above,  will  be  found  to  be  among 
those  who  not  only  have  washed  their  hearts  in  the 
Redeemer's  blood,  —  (this  is  the  title  to  all  salva- 
tion,)— but  who  also  have  been  tried  in  the  refining 
fires  of  affliction  more  severely  than  others.  Afflic- 
tion is  a  school,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  to  ripen 
us  for  an  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory; 
and  vain  as  is  the  common  imagination,  that  those 
who  are  tried  here  are  saved  from  all  sorrow  here- 
after, be  they  united  to  Christ  or  not ;  it  is  yet  a 
true  doctrine,  that  as  there  are  degrees  of  glory,  so 
the  most  severely  afflicted  ones,  who  are  also 
believers  in  Jesus,  will  shine  the  brightest  in  that 
glory ;  not  so  much  because  of  their  suffering,  as 
of  the  grace  wrought  to  purification  in  their  souls 
by  the  Spirit  of  God,  through  the  agency  of  suf- 
fering. 

Take  courage,  therefore,  any  amongst  you,  be- 
loved, who  are  the  sons  and  daughters  of  tribula- 


CONSOLATIO.  155 

tion  ;  if  united  to  Jesus  by  a  living  faith,  you  are 
training,  through  your  very  afflictions,  for  superior 
glory.  The  clouds  that  now  darken  your  horizon 
will  soon  disappear  before  the  brightness  of  the 
sun,  and  your  spirit  of  heaviness  shall  be  ex- 
changed for  the  garments  of  joy.  Be  resting  on 
Jesus  for  all  your  strength,  hope,  and  deliverance. 
Believe  in  Him  as  your  pattern,  as  well  as  your 
support  in  every  tribulation.  Ask  of  Him  in  every 
fresh  trial,  and  under  every  circumstance  of  the 
trial.  Lord,  how  wouldst  Thou  have  me  to  act? 
What  wouldst  Thou  have  me  to  do  7  Beg  of  Him 
increasing  submission,  and  thankfulness  of  spirit. 
Endeavour  to  obtain  that  transcendency  of  faith 
which  sustains  the  soul  above  the  depression  of 
this  low  world,  and  the  wearying  contemplation  of 
pain,  sorrow,  fear,  sin,  and  death ;  and  strive  to 
raise  your  senses  and  affections  to  things  above, 
where  your  compassionate  Saviour  dwells,  and 
whence  He  will  soon  return  to  gather  you  up  with 
Him  to  His  throne,  that  you  may  behold  His  glory. 
Seek  of  Him  the  Holy  Spirit  to  intercede  withia 
you,  and  to  unite  your  heart  to  God's  heart.  He 
is  a  counsellor  and  comforter  from  Christ  to  His 
distressed  ones.  He  is  a  guide  to  lead  you  into  all 
truth,  to  reveal  to  you  the  whole  will  of  your 
Heavenly  Father,  and  to  work  mightily  the  power 
of  God  in  your  soul;  quickening  you  from  sin  to 
holiness,  and  raising  you  up  to  all  heavenly  bless- 
ings with  Christ. 


156  CONSOLATIO. 

-  And  suffer  not  the  wicked  one  to  tempt  yon  with 
doubts,  fears,  unbeUef ;  these  evils  come  from  be- 
neath ;  from  above  is  faith,  joy,  and  hope  through 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Be  assured,  if  indeed 
you  are  Christ's  flock,  that  all  shall  be  well  with 
you ;  for  "all  things  shall  work  together  for  good 
to  them  that  love  God  ;"  and  "  He  who  has  showed 
you  great  and  sore  troubles  shall  quicken  you 
again,  and  bring  you  up  agam  from  the  depths  of 
the  earth ;  He  shall  increase  your  greatness,  and 
comfort  you  on  every  side."  Meanwhile,  "  Fear 
thou  not,  for  I  am  with  thee,"  saith  the  Lord  ;  "  be 
not  dismayed,  for  I  am  thy  God  ;  I  will  strengthen 
thee,  yea  I  will  help  thee,  yea  I  will  uphold  thee 
with  the  right  hand  of  my  righteousness." 


Thoughts  on  Patience. 

"For  ye  have  need  of  patience,  that  after  ye 
have  done  the  will  of  God,  ye  might  receive  the 
promise."  ^  Such  is  the  lesson  which  the  Holy 
Spirit  conveys  to  the  suffering  members  of  Christ's 
body,  through  one  whose  first  admission  to  the 
Christian  faith  was  marked  by  this  testimony  of 
the  Lord  Himself:  "I  will  show  him  how  great 

»  Heb.  X.  36. 


CONSOLATIO.  157 

things  he  must  suffer  for  my  name's  sake."  And 
as  we  follow  the  course  of  this  great  Apostle,  we 
find  that  he  was  ever  conformed  to  the  pattern  of 
his  Master,  the  "Man  of  sorrows."  Whatever  he 
was  ignorant  of  in  the  future,  this  one  truth  was 
deeply  settled  in  his  soul :  "The  Holy  Ghost  wit- 
nesselh  in  every  city,  that  bonds  and  afflictions 
abide  me. "  He  had  counted  the  cost,  and  was 
contented  to  win  Christ,  while  he  suffered  the 
loss  of  all  things  ;  and  to  such  a  high  degree  was 
the  strength  of  his  Lord  perfected  in  his  weak- 
ness, that  he  could  even  "glory  in  tribulation;" 
he  could  welcome  and  embrace  it  as  a  precious 
gift  from  heaven,  a  distinguishing  mark  of  Christ's 
favour,  to  be  counted  worthy  to  suffer  for  His 
sake. 

The  same  grace  of  patient  endurance,  of  thank- 
ful, rejoicing  acquiescence  in  the  severer  disci- 
pline of  our  Heavenly  Father's  will,  has  shone 
forth  in  the  saints  of  every  age.  Circumstances 
may  vary,  and  the  trials  of  different  periods  of 
the  Church,  as  well  as  of  its  different  members, 
may  be  diverse;  but  still  it  stands  an  unalterable 
law  of  our  militant  condition :  "  In  the  world  ye 
shall  have  tribulation." 

Like  Israel  in  the  wilderness,  we  "are  not  yet 
come  to  the  rest,  and  to  the  inheritance  which  the 
Lord  our  Godgiveth  us."  "And  there  should  be 
no  greater  comfort  to  Christian  persons,  than  to 


158  CONSOLATIO. 

be  made  like  unto  Christ,  by  suffering  patiently 
adversities,  troubles,  and  sicknesses  :  for  He  Him- 
self went  not  up  to  joy,  but  first  He  suffered  pain ; 
He  entered  not  into  His  glory  before  He  was 
crucified.  So  truly  our  way  to  eternal  joy  is 
to  suffer  here  with  Christ ;  and  our  door  to  enter 
into  eternal  life  is  gladly  to  die  with  Christ,  that 
we  may  rise  again  from  death,  and  dwell  with 
Him  in  everlasting  life."  ^  Now,  we  sow  in  tears ; 
the  time  will  come  when  we  shall  reap  in  joy. 

1.  If  we  would  attain  the  grace  of  patience 
under  suffering,  let  us  seek  first  to  cultivate  a 
deep  sense  of  our  own  sinfulness.  "  Wherefore 
doth  a  living  man  complain,  a  man  for  the  pun- 
ishment of  his  sins?"  "Know  this,  that  God 
exacteth  of  thee  less  than  thine  iniquity  de- 
serveth."  A  true  sight  of  the  corruption  of  our 
nature,  a  conviction  of  our  innumerable  depar* 
tures  from  God,  our  quenching  of  His  Holy 
Spirit,  our  insensibility  to  His  love,  our  earth- 
liness  and  vanity ;  the  wide  extent  of  evil  in 
heart  and  life,  in  word  and  deed,  which  a  faithful 
self-examination  presents  to  us;  all  this  should 
make  us  rather  wonder  that  God  so  lightly  afflicts 
us,  and  that  the  rod  of  His  displeasure  does  not 
more  severely  visit  His  wayward  and  disobedient 
children. 

1  OflBce  of  "  Visitation  of  the  Sick." 


CONSOLATIO..  159 

2.  Let  us  consider  the  purpose  of  God  in  afflict- 
ing us.  "  By  this  shall  the  iniquity  of  Jacob  be 
purged,  and  this  is  all  the  fruit,  to  take  away  his 
sin."  God  knows  that  without  holiness,  we  can 
have  no  true  happiness :  that  our  hearts  can  find 
no  rest  till  they  are  drawn  upwards,  and  centered 
in  Him ;  and  therefore  He  appoints  us  a  continual 
process  of  purification  and  refining.  Sometimes 
there  is  the  furnace  of  exceeding  sharp  afiliction ; 
long  contmued  bodily  suffering;  days  and  nights, 
and  months  and  years,  of  weariness  and  anguish ; 
the  desire  of  our  eyes  taken  away  with  a  stroke ; 
then  the  inward  cross  of  mental  trial,  the  felt 
burden  of  indwelling  corruption,  the  thorn  in  the 
flesh,  the  assaults  of  Satan,  and  all  the  various 
ills  and  vexations,  trials  and  disappointments,  of 
this  mortal  state.  Yet  all  this  is  to  be  welcomed 
as  a  blessing;  yea,  it  is  to  be  "counted  all  joy" 
by  the  heart  that  knows  its  God.  Every  step  of 
sanctified  suffering  is  a  step  nearer  to  the  crown 
of  glory.  It  is  a  lesson  learned  in  that  school  of 
obedience,  in  which  as  man  our  blessed  Lord 
Himself  was  perfected  ;  it  is  an  increased  confor- 
mity to  the  meek  and  patient  Lamb  of  God  ;  it  is 
precious  medicine  from  the  unerring  Physician  of 
our  souls ;  it  is  a  token  of  our  Heavenly  Father's 
special  love,  refining  from  dross,  and  polishing 
from  corruption,  the  blood-bought  jewels  of  His 
grace.     God  is  putting  to  the  test,  (it  may  be  of 


160  CONSOLATIO. 

fiery  trial,)  the  faith  which  He  Himself  has 
given  ;  thus  grace  is  strengthened  and  exercised, 
and  the  stone  is  "  made  ready"  for  its  place  in  th« 
heavenly  temple.  ? 

3.  Let  ns  habitually  contemplate  the  sufferings 
of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  Light, 
indeed,  ought  every  trial  of  ours  to  appear,  when 
we  think  of  Him  who  could  say,  "  Is  there  any 
sorrow  like  unto  my  sorrow '?"  In  what  woe  or 
pain,  whether  of  body  or  mind,  can  we  not  find; 
in  our  faithful  High  Priest  the  sympathy  of  an-. 
infinite  sufierer?  And  all  this  for  our  sakes  !  O 
my  Saviour;  let  me  be  dumb  like  Thee,  and 
never  open  my  mouth  in  complaining,  whatever 
be  the  bitter  cup  Thou  givest  me  to  drink;  for  it 
can  only  be  a  cup  of  blessing  to  thy  redeemed^ 
child,  for  whom  Thou  hast  borne  the  curse,  and- 
exhausted  the  cup  of  wrath  and  indignation. 
Let  me  not  shrink  from  any  fellowship  with  Thee 
in  sufiering,  who  for  me  didst  "endure  the  cross, 
despising  the  shame,"  and  art  now  preparing  for 
me  joys  which  "  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard, 
neither  hath  it  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to 
conceive." 

4.  Let  us  dwell  much  on  the  love  and  mercy  of 
God,  exhibited  towards  us  in  redemption.  While 
we  do  this,  we  cannot  be  greatly  moved  by  the 
sufferings  of  time.  God  has  not  spared  His  own 
Son  for  me.     Shall  I  then  think  that  He  deals 


I 


CONSOLATIO.  161 

hardly  in  taking  away  any  creature  of  earth,  or 
in  depriving  me  of  any  gourd  in  whose  shelter  I 
was  glad]  He  has  granted  me  spiritual  healing; 
shall  I  complain  of  bodily  pain  1  He  has  given 
me  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Comforter ;  shall  I  mourn 
over  the  withered  joys  of  earth  7  He  has  given 
me  the  bright  hope  of  an  everlasting  home  in 
glory  ;  shall  I  count  it  hard  to  be  a  pilgrim  and  a 
stranger  during  a  few  short  days  or  years  in  this 
thorny  wilderness?  No;  rather  let  my  heart  be 
soaring  upwards  to  the  source  of  its  hidden  life, 
in  adoring  gratitude  to  the  God  of  my  salvation, 
who  pitied  me  in  my  low  estate ;  "  for  His  mercy 
endureth  for  ever !  " 

5.  Let  us  live  in  a  spirit  of  prayer.  Suffering 
times  have  ever  been  praying  times  with  the 
saints  of  God.  "  In  my  distress  I  cried  unto  the 
Lord,  and  He  heard  me,"  said  the  Psalmist. 
Hezekiah  in  his  sickness  "  prayed  and  wept 
sore."  Our  blessed  Saviour,  "being  in  agony, 
prayed  more  earnestly."  There  is  the  relief  of 
utterance  in  pouring  out  our  complaint  before 
God.  There  is  the  consolation  of  feeling  that  we 
are  not  alone  in  our  sorrows.  Man  may  grow 
weary  of  us,  but  not  so  our  sympathizing  Lord. 
He  is  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities, 
and  His  ear  is  ever  open  to  our  cry.  Ejaculatory 
prayer  is  a  blessed  remedy  against  sudden  temp- 
tations to  impatience:  it  lifts  the  soul  above  its 
11 


162  CONSOLATIO. 

actual  condition  ;  it  lays  hold  on  the  strength  of 
the  Everlasting,  brings  us  into  communion  with 
Him  who  is  our  peace,  and  calms  the  troubled 
spirit.  Especially  should  we  seek  the  grace 
of  patience  and  long-suffering  as  a  fruit  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  for  it  is  not  a  fruit  that  grows 
on  nature's  branch.  The  flesh  is  all  impatience 
and  divscontent,  and  can  only  be  subdued  to  the 
spirit  by  the  mighty  power  of  God. 

6.  Let  us  beware  of  looking  on  any  trial  with 
the  eye  of  sense.  Faith  in  the  midst  of  suflermg 
is  like  the  tree  cast  into  the  bitter  waters  of 
Marah,  which  made  them  sweet.  But  sense 
only  adds  fuel  to  the  flame  of  impatience.  God 
is  present  with  the  soul  when  faith  is  in  exercise: 
it  is  left  to  its  own  utter  weakness  when  sight 
prevails.  Faith  is  content  that  God  should  order 
and  appoint  every  event  and  circumstance  :  sense 
would  blindly  dictate  to  Him,  and  choose  a  path 
of  ease  and  self-indulgence. 

7.  Let  us  consider  the  shortness  of  time,  and 
dwell  deeply  on  the  thought  of  eternity  and  of  the 
coming  of  Christ.  "  Yet  a  little  while,  and  he 
that  shall  come  will  come,  and  will  not  tarry." 
Then  will  He  give  rest  to  the  weary,  and  conso- 
lation to  the  sorrowful.  Their  peace  shall  be  as  a 
river,  ever  flowing;  they  shall  have  entered  into 
"the  joy  of  their  Lord,"  ajoy  that  fears  no  vicissi- 
tude.    Their  sun  shall  never  more  go  down,  nor 


CONSOLATIO.  163 

shall  the  passing  shadow  of  a  cloud  obscure  the 
bright  shining  of  its  rays. 

And  let  us  remember,  that  even  now  God  fore- 
knows the  weight  and  duration  of  our  trials.  He 
sees  the  end  from  the  beginning,  and  the  happy 
issue  out  of  all  our  afflictions  which  he  has  in 
store  for  us.  It  may  be  very,  very  soon,  "  O  thou 
afflicted  with  tempest,  and  not  comforted !  that  he 
will  lay  thy  stones  with  fair  colours,  and  thy  foun- 
dations with  sapphires."  "  Thou  shalt  forget  thy 
misery,  and  remember  it  as  waters  that  pass 
away."  Surely  there  is  an  end,  may  be  said  of 
every  thing,  save  of  the  rest  that  remaineth  for 
the  people  of  God. 

Suffering  seems  long  and  weary,  and  for  the 
present  grievous;  yet  it  is  but  a  little  moment,  a 
twinkhng  of  an  eye,  compared  with  the  everlast- 
ing inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light,  when  the 
days  of  their  mourning  shall  be  ended.  "  When 
-  there  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow,  nor 
crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any  more  pain,  for 
the  former  things  are  passed  away."  "All  the 
days  of  my  appointed  time  will  I  wait,  till  my 
change  come."  *'  For  I  reckon  that  the  suffer- 
ings of  this  present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be 
compared  with  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed  in 
us." 


164  CONSOLATIO. 

In  affliction,  see  the  necessity  of  it,  and  be 
humbled ;  see  the  use  of  it,  and  improve  it ;  see 
the  love  there  is  in  it,  and  be  thankful.  I  know 
of  no  greater  blessing  than  health,  except  pain  and 
sickness. 


Comfort  to  the  Christian,  that  God  knows  him. 

You  who  are  sufferers,  whether  from  sickness, 
or  sorrow,  or  sin ;  and  patient  sufferers  for  the 
Lord's  sake.  He  says  to  each  of  you,  "  I  know 
how  thou  hast  borne,  i.  e.  suffered,  and  hast  pa- 
tience, and  for  my  sake  hast  labored,  and  not 
fainted."  (Rev.  ii.  3.)  Your  Lord  has  known 
many  a  secret  trial,  many  an  hour  of  sorrow  and 
affliction,  through  which  you  have  passed,  and 
which  the  world  has  never  known.  Your  Lord 
has  seen  your  domestic  difficulties,  your  per- 
sonal troubles,  your  moments  of  secret  anguish, 
perhaps  imrevealed  even  \o  your  dearest  friend ; 
for  there  are  sorrows  which  ought  not  and  cannot 
be  communicated,  but  to  God  alone ;  and  yet  you 
have  not  fainted,  but  persevered,  and  for  His 
name's  sake  hast  patience.  Of  all  these  He  says 
in  the  language  of  commendation,  "I  know" 
them;  I  know  your  every  prayer  for  guidance, 
your  every  effort  to  bear  patiently  and  contentedly 
what  I  have  laid  upon  you,  and  to  profit  by  the 


CONSOLATIO.  165 

visitation ;  to  hear  the  rod,  and  Him  who  appoint- 
ed it;  your  every  endeavour  against  evil  tempers 
and  evil  habits.  All  these  things,  which  man  can 
never  know,  are  known  and  valued  by  me.  How 
delightful  is  the  reflection  to  the  child  of  God, 
that  we  have  to  do  with  One  who  judges  not 
as  sinners  judge,  and  who  feels  not  as  even 
the  holiest  friend  on  earth  can  feel  towards  our 
patient  endurance,  our  shortenings,  or  our  slow 
advancings,  but  who  looks  even  at  the  most 
feeble  as  children  still ;  and  while  those  around 
may  blame  us  that  we  have  borne  our  trials 
no  better,  and  have  advanced  no  farther  and 
no  faster  on  the  heavenward  road,  He,  that  mer- 
ciful Redeemer,  commends  us,  that  we  are  still 
upon  the  road,  and  "have  not  fainted." 


Suffering  not  strange.     Communion  toith  Christ  in 
trial  and  in  glory. 

"Think  it  not  strange,"^  for  it  is  not.  Suit  your 
thoughts  to  the  experience  and  verdict  of  all 
times,  and  to  the  warnings  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
hath  giv6n  us  in  the  Scriptures,  and  our  Saviour 
Himself  from  His  own  mouth,  and   in    the   ex- 

*  1  Pet.  iv.  12. 


166  CONSOLATIO. 

ample  which  He  showed  in  His  own  person.  But 
the  point  goes  higher. 

"  Rejoice."  Though  we  think  not  the  suffer- 
ings "  strange,"  yet  may  we  not  well  think  that 
rule  somewhat  strange,  to  rejoice  in  them  ?  No ; 
it  will  be  found  as  reasonable  as  the  other,  being 
duly  considered  ;  and  it  rests  upon  the  same 
ground  which  will  bear  both,  "  Inasmuch  as  ye 
are  partakers  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ." 

So,  then,  1.  Consider  this  twofold  connected 
participation  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and  of  the 
after-glory.  2.  The  present  joy,  even  in  suffer- 
ings, springing  from  that  participation. 

I  need  not  tell  you  that  this  communion  in  suf- 
ferings is  not  in  point  of  expiation,  or  satisfaction 
to  Divine  justice,  which  was  the  peculiar  end  of  the 
sufferings  of  Christ  personal,  but  not  of  the  com- 
mon sufferings  of  Christ  mystical.  "  He  bare  our 
sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree;"  and  in  bearing 
them,  took  them  away :  we  bear  His  sufferings, 
as  His  body  united  to  Him  by  His  Spirit.  Those 
sufferings  which  were  His  personal  burden  we 
partake  the  sweet  fruits  of;  they  are  accounted 
ours,  and  we  are  acquitted  by  them  :  but  the 
endurance  of  them  was  His  high  and  incommu- 
nicable task,  in  which  none  at  all  were  with 
Him.  Our  communion  in  these,  as  fully  com- 
pleted by  Himself  in  His  natural  body,  is  the 
ground  of  our  comfort  and  joy  in  those  sufferings 


CONSOLATIO.  167 

that  are  completed  in  His  mystical  body,  the 
Church. 

This  is  indeed  our  joy,  that  we  have  so  Ught  a 
burden,  so  sweet  an  exchange ;  the  weight  of  sin 
quite  taken  off  our  backs,  and  all  bound  on  His 
cross  only ;  and  our  crosses,  the  badges  ,of  our 
conformity  to  Him,  laid  indeed  on  our  shoulders, 
but  the  great  weight  of  them  likewise  held  up  by 
His  hand,  that  they  overpress  us  not.  These  fires 
of  our  trial  may  be  corrective,  and  purgative  of 
the  remaining  power  of  sin,  and  they  are  so  in- 
tended ;  but  Jesus  Christ  alone,  in  the  sufferings 
of  His  own  cross,  was  the  burnt-offering,  "  the 
propitiation  for  our  sins." 

Now,  although  He  hath  perfectly  satisfied  for 
us,  and  saved  us  by  His  sufferings,  yet  this  con- 
formity to  Him  in  the  way  of  suffering  is  most 
reasonable.  Although  our  holiness  doth  not  stand 
in  point  of  law,  nor  come  in  at  all  in  the  matter 
of  justifying  us,  yet  we  are  called  and  appointed 
to  holiness  in  Christ,  as  assimilating  us  to  Him, 
our  glorious  Head;  and  we  do  really  receive  it 
from  Him,  that  we  may  be  like  Him.  So  these 
our  sufferings  bear  a  very  congruous  likeness  to 
Him,  though  in  no  way  as  an  accession  to  His  in 
expiation,  yet,  as  a  part  of  His  image ;  and  there- 
fore the  Apostle  says,  even  in  this  respect,  that  we 
are  "  predestinated  to  be  conformed  to  the  image 
of  his  Son."     (Rom.  viii.  29.) 


168  CONSOLATIO. 

.1  Is  it  fit  that  we  should  not  follow  where  our 
Captain  led,  and  went  first,  but  that  He  should 
lead  through  rugged,  thorny  ways,  and  we  pass 
about  to  get  a  way  through  flowery  meadows  1 
As  His  natural  body  shared  with  His  head  in  His 
sufferings,  so  ought  His  body  mystical  to  share 
with  Him,  as  its  head,  the  buifetings  and  spittings 
on  His  face,  the  thorny  crown  on  His  head,  a 
pierced  side,  nailed  hands  and  feet.  If  we  be 
parts  of  Him,  can  we  think  that  a  body  finding 
nothing  but  ease,  and  bathing  in  delight,  can 
agree  to  a  Head  so  tormented  ?  I  remember 
what  that  pious  duke  said  at  Jerusalem,  when 
they  offered  to  crown  him  king  there,  "  Nolo 
auream,  ubi  Chrishis  spineamy  "No  crown 
of  gold,  where  Jesus  was  crowned  with  thorns." 
This  is  the  way  we  must  follow,  or  else  resolve 
to  leave  Him  :  the  way  of  the  cross  is  the  royal 
way  to  the  crown.  He  said  it,  and  reminded 
them  of  it  again,  that  they  might  take  the  deep 
impression  of  it  :  "Remember  what  I  said  unto 
you,  The  servant  is  not  greater  than  his  lord.  If 
they  have  persecuted  me,  they  will  also  persecute 
you  :  if  they  have  kept  my  saying,  they  will  keep 
yours  also."  (John  xv.  20.)  And  particularly 
in  point  of  reproaches  :  "  If  they  have  called  the 
master  Beelzebub,  how  much  more  shall  they 
call  them  of  his  household  7  "  (Matt.  x.  25.)  A 
bitter  scoff,  an  evil  name,  reproaches  for  Christ, 


CONSOLATIO.  169 

why  do  these  fret  thee  7  They  were  a  part  of 
thy  Lord's  entertainment  while  He  was  here. 
Thou  art  even  in  this  a  "partaker  of  his  suffer- 
ings "  and  in  this  way  He  is  bringing  thee  for- 
ward to  the  partaking  of  His  glory.  That  is  the 
other  thing. 

"When  his  glory  shall  be  revealed."  Now 
that  He  is  hidden,  little  of  his  glory  is  seen.  It 
was  hidden  while  He  was  on  earth,  and  now  it  is 
hidden  in  heaven,  where  He  is ;  and  as  for  His 
body  here.  His  Church,  it  hath  no  pompous  dress, 
nor  outward  splendour ;  and  the  particular  parts  of 
it,  the  saints,  are  poor  despised  creatures,  the  very 
refuse  of  men  in  outward  respects  and  common 
esteem.  So  He  Himself  is  not  seen;  and  His 
followers,  the  more  they  are  seen  and  looked  on 
by  the  world's  eye,  the  more  their  meanness 
appears.  True,  as  in  the  days  of  His  humiliation, 
some  rays  were  breaking  forth  through  the  veil  of 
His  flesh  and  the  cloud  of  His  low  despicable 
condition ;  thus  it  is  sometimes  with  His  follow- 
ers :  a  glance  of  His  image  strikes  the  very  eye  of 
the  world,  and  forces  some  acknowledgment  and 
a  kind  of  reverence  in  the  ungodly;  but  common- 
ly Christ  and  His  followers  are  covered  with  all 
the  disgraces  and  ignominies  the  world  can  put 
on  them.  But  there  is  a  day  wherein  He  will  ap- 
pear, and  it  is  at  hand;  and  "He  shall  be  glori- 
ous, even  in  His  despised  saints,"  and  "  admired 


CONSOLATIO, 


in  them  that  believe."  (2  Thess.  i.  10.)  How 
much  more  in  the  brightness  of  His  own  glorious 
person  ! 

In  the  mean  time,  He  is  hidden,  and  they  are 
hidden  in  Him.  "Our  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in 
God."  (Col.  iii.  3.)  The  world  sees  nothing  of 
His  glory  and  beauty,  and  even  His  own  see  not 
much;  they  have  but  a  little  glimmering  of  Him, 
and  of  their  own  happiness  in  Him;  know  little 
of  their  own  high  condition,  and  what  they  are 
born  to.  But  in  that  bright  day,  He  shall  shine 
forth  in  His  royal  dignity,  and  "  every  eye  shall 
see  Him,"  and  be  overcome  with  his  splendour. 
Terrible  shall  it  be  to  those  that  formerly  despised 
Him  and  His  saints,  but  to  them  it  shall  be  the 
gladdest  day  that  ever  arose  upon  them,  a  day 
that  shall  never  set  or  be  benighted ;  the  day  they 
so  much  longed  and  looked  out  for,  the  full 
accomplishment  of  all  their  hopes  and  desires. 
Oh,  how  dark  were  all  our  days  without  the  hope 
of  this  day  ! 

"  Then,"  says  the  Apostle,  "  ye  shall  rejoice  with 
exceeding  joy;"  and  to  the  end  you  may  not  fall 
short  of  that  joy  in  the  participation  of  glory,  fall 
not  back  from  a  cheerful  progress  in  the  commu- 
nion of  those  sufferings  that  are  so  closely  linked 
with  it,  and  will  so  surely  lead  unto  it,  and  end  in 
it:  for  in  this  the  Apostle's  expression,  this  glory 
and  joy  is  set  before  them  as  the  great  matter  of 


CONSOLATIO.  171 

their  desires  and  hopes,  and  the  certain  end 
of  their  present  sufferings. 

Now,  upon  these  grounds,  the  admonition  will 
appear  reasonable,  and  not  too  great  a  demand, 
"  to  rejoice  "  even  in  "sufferings." 

It  is  true  that  passage  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  chap.  xii.  v.er.  11,  opposes  present  afflic- 
tion to  joy.  But,  1.  If  you  mark,  it  is  but  in  the 
appearance,  or  outward  visage.  It  seemeth  not 
to  be  matter  of  joy,  but  of  grief  To  look  upon, 
it  hath  not  a  smiling  countenance ;  yet  joy  may  be 
under  it.  And,  2.  Though  to  the  flesh  it  is  what 
it  seems  —  grief,  and  not  joy — yet  there  may 
be  under  it  spiritual  joy ;  yea,  the  affliction  itself 
may  help  and  advance  that  joy.  3.  Through  the 
natural  sense  of  it,  there  will  be  some  alloy 
or  mixture  of  grief,  so  that  the  joy  cannot  be 
pure  and  complete,  but  yet  there  may  be  joy  even 
in  it.  This,  the  Apostle  here  clearly  grants  :  "Re- 
joice" now  "  in"  suffering,  that  you  may  "  rejoice 
exceedingly"  after  it,  "leaping  for  joy."  Doubt- 
less, this  joy  at  present  is  but  a  little  parcel,  a 
drop  of  that  sea  of  joy.  Now  it  is  joy,  but  more 
is  reserved.  Then  they  shall  leap  for  joy.  Yet 
even  at  present  rejoice  in  "trial,"  yea,  in  "fiery 
trial."  This  may  be  done.  The  children  of  God 
are  not  called  to  so  sad  a  life  as  the  world  imag- 
ines :  besides  what  is  laid  up  for  them  in  heaven, 
they  have,  even  here,  their  rejoicings  and  songs 


172  CONSOLATIO, 

in  their  distresses,  as  those  prisoners  had  their 
psah-ns  even  at  midnight,  after  their  stripes,  and 
in  their  chains,  before  they  knew  of  a  sudden  de- 
liverance. (Acts  xvi.  25.)  True,  there  may  be  a 
darkness  within,  clouding  all  the  matter  of  their 
joy  :  but  even  that  darkness  is  the  seed-time 
of  after-joy :  light  is  sown  in  that  darkness,  and 
shall  spring  up  ;  and  not  only  shall  they  have  a 
rich  crop  at  full  harvest,  but  even  some  first-fruits 
of  it  here,  in  pledge  of  the  harvest. 

And  this  they  ought  to  expect,  and  to  seek 
after,  with  minds  humble  and  submissive,  as  to 
the  measure  and  time  of  it,  that  they  may  be  par- 
takers of  spiritual  joy,  and  may  by  it  be  enabled 
to  go  patiently,  yea,  cheerfully,  through  the  tribu- 
lations and  temptations  that  lie  in  their  way  home- 
ward ;  and  for  this  end  they  ought  to  endeavour 
after  a  more  clear  discerning  of  their  interest  la 
Christ,  that  they  may  know  they  partake  of  Him; 
and  so,  that  in  suffering  they  are  partakers  of  His 
sufferings,  and  shall  be  partakers  of  His  glory. 

Many  afflictions  will  not  cloud  and  obstruct 
this,  so  much  as  one  sin ;  therefore,  if  ye  would 
walk  cheerfully,  be  most  careful  to  walk  holily. 
All  the  winds  about  the  earth  make  not  an  earth- 
quake, but  only  that  within. 

Now,  this  joy  is  grounded  on  this  communion, 
1.  in  sufferings ;  then,  2.  in  glory. 

1.  Even  in  sufferings  themselves.  It  is  a  sweet, 


CONSOLATIO.  173 

a  joyful  thing,  to  be  a  sharer  with  Christ  in  a7iy 
thin^.  All  enjoyments  wherein  He  is  not,  are 
bitter  to  a  soul  that  loves  Him,  and  all  sufferings 
with  Him  are  sweet.  The  worst  things  of  Christ 
are  more  truly  delightful  than  the  best  things  of 
the  world;  His  afflictions  are  sweeter  than  their 
pleasures,  His  "reproach"  more  glorious  than 
their  honours,  and  more  rich  than  their  treasures, 
as  Moses  accounted  them.  (Heb.  xi.  26.)  Love 
delights  in  likeness  and  communion,  not  only  in 
things  otherwise  pleasant,  but  in  the  hardest  and 
harshest  things,  which  have  not  any  thing  in  them 
desirable,  but  only  that  likeness.  So  that  this 
thought  is  very  sweet  to  a  heart  possessed  with 
this  love.  What  does  the  world  by  its  hatred  and 
persecutions,  and  revilings  for  the  sake  of  Christ, 
but  make  me  more  like  Him,  give  me  a  greater 
share  with  Him  in  ihat  which  He  did  so  willingly 
undergo  for  me 7  "When  he  was  sought  for  to 
be  made  a  king,"  as  St.  Bernard  remarks,  "He 
escaped;  but  when  he  was  to  be  brought  to  the 
cross,  He  freely  yielded  Himself."  And  shall  I 
shrink  and  creep  back  from  what  He  calls  me  to 
suffer  for  His  sake?  Yea,  even  all  my  other 
troubles  and  sufferings  1  will  desire  to  have 
stamped  thus,  with  this  conformity  to  the  suffer- 
ings of  Christ,  in  the  humble,  obedient,  cheerful 
endurance  of  them,  and  the  giving  up  my  will  to 
my  Father's. 


fl^  CONSOLATIO. 

The  following  of  Christ  makes  any  way  pleasant. 
His  faithful  followers  refuse  no  march  after  Him, 
be  it  through  deserts,  and  mountains,  and  storms, 
and  hazards,  that  will  affright  self-pleasing,  easy 
spirits.  Hearts  kincfled  and  actuated  with  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  will  "  follow  him  wheresoever  he 
goeth." 

As  He  speaks  it  for  warning  to  His  disciples, 
"  If  they  persecuted  me,  they  will  also  persecute 
you ; "  so  He  speaks  it  for  comfort  to  them,  and 
sufficient  comfort  it  is,  "If  they  hate  you,  they 
hated  me  before  you."     (John  xv.  18,  20.) 

2.  Then  add  the  other :  see  whither  it  tends. 
"  He  shall  be  revealed  in  his  glory,"  and  ye  shall 
even  overflow  with  joy  in  the  partaking  of  that 
glory ;  therefore  rejoice  now  in  the  midst  of  all 
your  sufferings.  Stand  upon  the  advanced  ground 
of  the  promises  and  the  covenant  of  grace,  and  by 
faith  look  beyond  this  moment,  and  all  that  is  in 
it,  to  that  day  wherein  "everlasting  joy  shall  be 
upon  your  heads,"  a  crown  of  it,  and  sorrow  and 
mourning  shall  flee  away.  (Isa.  li.  II.)  Believe  in 
this  day,  and  the  victory  is  won.  Oh  !  that  blessed 
hope,  well  fixed,  and  exercised,  would  give  other 
manner  of  spirits.  What  zeal  of  God  would  it  not 
inspire  !  What  invincible  courage  against  all  en- 
encounters  !  How  soon  will  this  pageant  of  the 
world  vanish  that  men  are  gazing  on,  —  these 
pictures,  and  fancies  of  pleasures  and  honours 


CONSOLATIO.  175 

falsely  so  called,  —  and  give  place  to  the  real  glory 
of  the  sons  of  God,  when  this  blessed  Son,  who  is 
God,  shall  be  seen  appearing  in  full  majesty,  and 
all  His  brethren  in  glory  with  Him,  all  clothed  in 
their  robes  !  And  if  you  ask,  Who  are  they  1 
Why,  "these  are  they  who  came  out  of  great 
tribulation,  and  have  washed  their  robes  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb."     (Rev.  vii.  14.) 


It  is  easy  to  say,  Blessed  be  God  in  every  thing ; 
but  where  is  the  man  that  is  always  pleased  with 
God? 


Jesus  Christ,  an  High  Priest^  merciful  and  faithful. 

"  In  all  things  it  behoved  Him  to  be  made  like 
unto  His  brethren ; "  that  he  might  be,  not  only 
an  High  Priest,  but  "an  High  Priest  merciful  and 
faithful."  ^  Here  we  see  the  care  and  tenderness 
of  God.  Whom  do  we  so  readily  trust  as  one 
whom  we  know  to  be  able  to  enter  into  our  con- 
dition 7  Who  is  best  fitted  to  comfort  mourners  1 
He  who  has  mourned  Himself  Who  can  best  tell 
the  dangers  of  prosperity?  He  who  has  pros- 
pered Himself  Who  can  tell  us  what  sickness  is? 
He  whose  head  has  often  throbbed  with  pain.     It 

» Heb.  ii.  17. 


176  CONSOLATIO. 

is  so  throughout ;  and  we  never  can  tell  exactly 
what  human  sufferings  and  human  sorrows  are, 
imtil  we  have  ourselves  suffered  and  wept.  It  is 
on  this  account  that  different  classes  of  men  do 
not  exactly  understand  and  trust  each  other.  The 
poor  man  thinks  that  the  rich  man  cannot  quite 
tell  what  the  pinch  of  poverty  is ;  and  the  rich 
man,  that  his  poor  neighbour  does  not  know  the 
thorns  that  are  in  his  downy  pillow,  or  the  bitters 
that  are  in  his  golden  cup.  To  meet  this  human 
want,  Jesus  became  our  brother;  He  took  on  Him 
our  nature,  and  with  it  all  its  feelings  and  all  its 
frailties;  and  thus  it  is  that  now,  everyone,  of 
whatever  class  and  condition,  can  look  to  Him 
with  confidence.  The  poor  can  look  to  Him,  for 
He  was  emphatically  a  poor  man  ;  the  rich,  for 
He  wore  the  nature  which  the  rich  man  wears. 
The  young  can  look  to  Him,  for  He  was  once 
young ;  He  lay  in  a  mother's  bosom.  He  trod  a 
nursery  floor.  He  was  subject  to  a  father's  autho- 
rity. The  full-grown  man  can  look  to  Him,  for 
He  felt  the  sorrows  which  the  full-grown  man 
must  sooner  or  later  feel.  "With  the  dying  He 
can  sympathize,  for  He  bowed  His  own  sacred 
head,  in  the  hour  of  darkness,  before  the  power  of 
death. 

He  is  thus  "a  merciful,"  or  (as  it  may  be  trans- 
lated) a  "pitiful  High  Priest."  He  feels  for  those 
for  whom  He  intercedes.    When  we  come  to  Him 


CONSOLATIO.  177 

in  weakness  and  weariness,  our  bodies  oppressed 
by  disease,  our  minds  weighed  down  by  care,  we 
come  to  One  who  has  Himself  felt  oppression  of 
body  and  weariness  of  mind,  and  we  know  that 
He  pities  us  —  for  He  cannot  forget  —  man  may 
forget;  and  it  often  happens  that  he  who  has  been 
■  in  a  low  estate  will  lose  the  memory  of  the  trials 
he  then  experienced  ;  and  should  he  be  advanced 
higher,  will  trample  unfeelingly  upon  those  who 
'were  once  his  equals.  It  is  not  so  with  Jesus  ! 
He  is  "faithful  and  true,"  as  well  as  "merciful 
and  pitiful."  He  remembers  what  human  weak- 
ness is :  He  recalls  it  when  the  mourner  is  before 
Him  ;  He  looks  upon  His  beating  heart,  upon  His 
tearful  eye,  upon  His  pale  cheek,  upon  His  anx- 
ious brow,  and  He  seems  to  say,  "I  once  wept,  I 
once  was  pale,  I  once  was  sorrowful ;  O  my  Father, 
have  compassion  on  this  poor  suppliant,  as  Thou 
once  in  the  days  of  my  flesh  hadst  compassion  on 
me  ! "  Verily,  He  is  a  merciful,  a  pitiful  High 
Priest !  Verily,  "  He  knoweth  our  frame "  by 
personal  experience ;  "  He  remembereth  that  we 
are  dust ! " 

But,  again,  He  is  said  to  be  "faithful."  His 
faithfulness  consists  in  His  earnest  and  constant 
intercession  for  His  brethren ;  He  pleads  as  for 
His  own  flesh  and  blood ;  He  does  not  forget  that 
He  was  Himself  a  man.  Perhaps  we  may  thus 
13 


178  CONSOLATIO. 

illustrate  this  part  of  His  character.  If  a  man 
make  a  promise  while  he  is  ia  a  certain  situation, 
as  long  as  he  remains  in  that  situation  he  will  be 
likely  to  remember  it;  many  things  will  call  it  to 
his  mind  ;  but  if  his  situation  be  changed,  —  if  he 
go  to  other  places,  form  other  connections,  or  enter 
into  other  pursuits,  he  is  too  apt  to  forget  the  past, 
and  its  feelings  and  its  promises.  Now  Jesus  is 
ever  the  same.  His  heart  is  unchanged  —  un- 
changeable :  He  is  passed  into  the  heavens,  but 
He  is  still  the  God-man,  the  God  incarnate,  and 
still  feels  in  perfect  sympathy  and  brotherhood 
with  man. 

What  solid  comfort  does  this  consideration  afford 
us.  The  atoning  sacrifice  was  made  eighteen 
hundred  years  ago,  but  the  Victim  is  still  fresh 
before  the  throne ;  the  Lamb  lies  bleeding  on  the 
altar;  the  blood  still  seems  to  flow;  the  High 
Priest  still  and  for  ever  offers  the  Eternal  Sacrifice ; 
He  is  pitiful  and  faithful !  — in  glory,  but  not  for- 
getful of  His  shame ;  in  heaven,  but  not  unmind- 
ful of  earth ;  in  company  with  God  His  Father 
but  bearing  upon  the  palms  of  His  hands,  upon 
His  jewelled  breastplate,  and  upon  His  swelling 
heart,  the  names  and  the  memories  of  His  own 
ransomed  brethren. 


CONSOLATIO.  179 


The  sight  of  God,  the  souVs  reward. 

If  such  a  single  sincere  spirit  be  in  you,  it  comes 
of  God :  it  is  a  sign  of  the  seal  of  the  Holy  One 
setting  you  apart  to  eternal  life :  it  is  a  proof  of  the 
operation  of  the  grace  of  Christ  in  your  heart ;  of 
your  being  a  child  of  Go(J,  as  led  by  His  Spirit. 
If,  then,  rooted  and  grounded  in  Christ  by  godly 
repentance  and  self-abasement  for  your  sins,  and 
earnest  reliance  of  belief  on  His  sacrifice  for  your 
reconciliation  with  God;  if  in  this  spirit  of  faith 
and  of  love  you  are  patiently  walking  with  Him 
in  singleness  and  sincerity  of  heart,  be  comforted 
with  the  assurance  that  you  are  of  that  number 
whom  He  is  pleased  to  call  pure  in  heart,  and  in 
whom,  as  in  a  temple,  He  promises  to  dwell. 

And  then,  what  shall  be  your  recompence  of 
reward  hereafter  ?  Hear  the  word  of  the  Lord  of 
all  grace:  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they 
shall  see  God."  The  revelation  of  God  in  glory. 
Father,  Son,  and  Spirit ;  and  the  admission  per- 
petual into  the  unclouded  presence  of  His  love,  joy, 
and  praise,  are  the  exceeding  high  reward  held 
out  to  all  those  who  are  purified  in  heart :  a  proof 
how  transcendently  excellent  the  most  Blessed 
God  must  be,  since  even  to  behold  Him  is  the  con- 
summation of  the  happiness  of  His  beloved  people. 


180  CONSOLATIO. 

The  revelation  of  God  is  the  most  sublime  enjoy- 
ment that  the  soul  of  man,  intelligent  and  immor- 
tal as  it  is,  refined  and  sanctified  as  by  grace  it 
may  be,  is  yet  capable  of.  The  least  and  faintest 
glimpses  which  here  we  taste  of  Him  are  the  most 
sweet,  the  most  sacred,  the  most  elevated  delight 
we  know;  in  Him  is  the  fountain  of  life;  but 
hereafter  the  pure  in  heart  shall  behold  Him  face 
to  face;  they  shall  be  abundantly  satisfied  with 
the  fatness  of  His  house,  and  made  to  drink  of  the 
rivers  of  His  heavenly  pleasures. 

And  shall  they  indeed  see  God?  Shall  mortal 
man  stand  upright  before  His  Maker  1  Then  shall 
they  see  Him  who  no  longer  opposes  the  blank  of 
His  oflfended  justice  and  His  terrible  holiness 
before  their  unrighteousness,  and  ascends  in  the 
majesty  of  a  Judge  ;  but  they  shall  see  Him  as  a 
father,  a  xeconciled  father,  who  embraces  them  in 
the  arms  of  His  mercy,  who  abhors  not  to  call  them, 
and  comfort  them  as  sons,  who  has  gathered 
them  beneath  the  wings  of  His  parental  love, 
through  the  intercession  of  His  Divine  Son,  in 
order  to  exalt  them  into  the  presence  of  His 
glory ! 

Shall  they  see  God  ?  Then  shall  they  behold 
that  Saviour  who  emptied  Himself  of  all  His  glory, 
and  became  man,  for  their  redemption.  Then 
shall  they  see  that  loving  and  lowly  Shepherd,  who 


CONSOLATIO.  181 

laboured,  wrought,  wept,  agonized,  for  their  sakes; 
who  bared  the  breast  of  His  compassion  to  the  full 
fury  of  the  storm  of  Almighty  wrath,  —  wrath 
and  anguish  unutterable ;  compounded  of  the  judg- 
ment of  heaven,  the  ingratitude  of  earth,  and  the 
fiercest  malice  of  hell ;  wrath  that  terminated  in 
the  extinction  of  His  life,  and  the  shedding  of  His 
blood  on  the  accursed  cross.  Moreover,  that  lov- 
ing Saviour,  who  ceased  not  His  compassions  with 
His  mortal  life,  but  who  lives  again,  and  for  ever- 
more, specially  to  appear  and  advocate  their  cause 
in  the  presence  of  the  Father ;  specially  also  to 
hear  and  answer  their  supplications,  to  receive 
and  dispense  His  Spirit  of  grace,  to  exercise  the 
government  of  heaven  and  earth  for  their  preser- 
vation, and  to  prepare  for  them  mansions  of  divine 
rest.  This  Saviour  whom,  here  below,  without 
seeing,  they  loved  and  rejoiced  in  with  joy  un- 
speakable and  full  of  glory,  the  pure  in  heart  shall 
behold  on  His  heavenly  throne,  encompassed  with 
His  armies  of  angels,  and  shining  above  the  sun  in 
brightness. 

And  shall  they  see  God?  Neither  then  shall 
they  be  without  the  sight  of  that  blessed  Com- 
forter and  Counsellor,  even  the  Holy  Ghost,  who 
led,  and  taught,  and  guided  them;  who  bore  with 
all  their  rebellion  and  perverseness ;  who  dwelt 
within  their  souls,  shedding  abroad  His  light  and 
life,  His  peace  and  holiness,  to  their  sanctification ; 


182  CONSOLATIO. 

and  whose  mighty  power  has  raised  their  mortal 
bodies  to  incorruption  and  immortahty. 

Shall  they,  I  ask  once  more,  see  God?  Oh, 
then  !  they  shall  be  like  Him  too.  The  beloved 
disciple  instructs  ns  concerning  this :  "  We  shall 
be  like  him,  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is :"  and 
the  Psalmist :  "  I  shall  be  satisfied,  when  I  awake 
with  thy  likeness."  Then  shall  be  brought  to 
pass  that  most  gracious  desire  of  our  Lord,  that 
His  own  should  be  altogether  imited,  and  should 
be  one  with  Him  even  as  He  is  with  the  Father; 
and  when  His  will  that  those  whom  the  Father 
has  given  Him  may  be  with  Him  where  He  is,  to 
behold  His  glory,  shall  be  fulfilled,  to  His  eternal 
praise. 

In  that  day  God,  in  all  the  glory  of  His  Person, 
Father,  Son,  and  Spirit;  God,  in  all  the  glory  of 
His  perfections,  wisdom,  righteousness,  faithful- 
ness, lovingkindness  ;  God  in  His  unclouded  glory 
of  love,  light,  and  life;  shall  be  revealed  to  the 
admiring,  adoring  eyes  of  His  chosen  and  beloved 
ones.  Shall  we  see  God  1  O,  brethren  !  do  we 
desire  to  see  Him  1  Well,  then,  may  we  inquire  : 
Lord,  who  shall  dwell  in  thy  holy  hill?  —  who 
shall  ascend  to  the  throne  of  thy  majesty?  The 
Scripture  answers,  "  The  pure  in  heart  shall  see 
God."  Then  let  us  seek  the  mighty  influence  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  so  to  cleanse  and  purify  our  hearts 
by  faith  as  to  entitle  us  to  that  most  blessed  sight, 


CONSOLATIO.  188 

and  that  high  and  holy  habitation ;  and  to  make 
us  one  with  God,  even  as  He  is  one  with 
Christ. 

Real  heartfelt  submission  to  the  will  of  God,  in 
pain,  sickness,  crosses,  every  thing,  never  was 
the  work  of  a  man's  own  spirit;  and  when  it 
comes  from  above,  in  answer  to  prayer,  is  fall 
amends  for  all  we  can  sufier. 


Tlie  blessedness  of  the  faithful  departed, 

"  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying  unto  me, 
Write,  Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the 
Ldrd  from  henceforth.  Even  so,  saith  the  Spirit ; 
for  they  rest  from  their  labours."  ^  Not  aS  the 
heretics  of  old  vainly  and  coldly  dreamed,  as  if 
they  slept  without  thought,  or  stir  of  consciousness, 
from  the  hour  of  death  to  the  morning  of  the  resur- 
rection. Their  rest  is  not  the  rest  of  a  stone, 
cold  and  lifeless,  but  of  wearied  humanity.  They 
rest  from  their  labours ;  they  have  no  more  perse- 
cution, nor  stoning,  nor  scourging,  nor  crucify- 
ing; no  more  martyrdoms  by  fire,  or  the  wheel,  or 
barbed  shafts;  they  have  no  more  false  witnesses, 
nor  cutting  tongues;  no  more  bitterness  of  heart, 

,r,    .■     -  -       .  ;  *  Rev,  xiv.  13. 


184  CONSOLATIO. 

nor  iron  entering  into  the  soul ;  no  more  burdens 
of  wrong,  nor  amazement,  nor  perplexity.  Never 
again  shall  they  wee{>  for  unkindness,  and  disap- 
pointment, and  withered  hopes,  and  desolation  of 
heart.  All  is  over  now ;  they  have  passed  under 
the  share.  "  The  ploughers  ploughed  upon  their 
back,  and  made  long  furrows;"  but  it  is  all  over, 
never  to  begin  again.  They  rest,  too,  from  the 
weight  of  "  the  body  of  our  humiliation,"  —  from 
its  sufferings  and  pains.  Their  last  sickness  is 
over ;  they  shall  never  again  bear  the  tokens  of 
coming  dissolution ;  no  more  the  hollow  eye,  and 
the  sharp  lines  of  distress,  and  the  hue  of  a  fading 
loveliness.  Now  is  their  weariness  changed  into 
refreshment;  their  weakness  into  excellence  of 
strength;  their  wasting  into  a  spirit  ever  nejv; 
their  broken  words  into  the  perfection  of  praise ; 
their  weeping  into  a  chant  of  bliss.  And  not  only 
so,  but  they  rest  also  from  their  warfare  against 
sin, — against  all  its  strength,  and  subtilties,  and 
snares.  Satan  can  tempt  no  more ;  the  world  can- 
not lure;  self  cannot  betray;  they  have  wrestled 
out  the  strife  with  the  unseen  powers  of  the 
wicked  one,  and  they  have  won  the  mastery. 
There  is  no  more  inward  struggle,  no  sliding  back 
again,  no  swerving  aside,  no  danger  of  falling; 
they  have  gained  the  shore  of  eternal  peace. 
Above  all,  they  rest  from  the  sufferings  of  evil  ia 
themselves.     It  is  not  persecution,  nor  oppression, 


CONSOLATIO.  185 

nor  the  rage  of  Satan,  nor  the  thronging  assaults 
of  temptation,  that  so  afflicts  a  holy  man,  as  the 
consciousness  that  evil  dwells  in  his  own  inmost 
soul.  It  is  the  clinging  power  of  spiritual  evil  that 
sullies  his  whole  being ;  it  seems  to  run  through 
him  in  every  part ;  it  cleaves  to  every  movement 
of  his  life;  his  living  powers  are  hindered  and 
biassed  by  its  grasp.  Evil  tempers  in  sudden 
flashes;  unholy  thoughts  shooting  across  the  soul, 
kindling  fires  in  the  imagination ;  thoughts  of  self 
in  holiest  seasons  ;  consciousness  of  self  in  holiest 
acts ;  indevoutness  of  spirit ;  earthliness  of  heart ; 
dull  musing  heaviness  in  the  life  of  God  :  all 
these  burden  the  highest  saint  with  a  most 
oppressive  weight.  He  feels  always  the  stretch 
and  tension  of  his  spiritual  frame,  as  a  man  that 
is  weary  and  breathless,  grappling  with  a  foe, 
whom,  if  he  would  live,  he  must  hold  powerless 
to  the  earth. 

But  from  all  this,  too,  they  rest.  The  sin 
that  dwelt  in  them  died  when  through  death 
they  began  to  live.  The  unimpeded  soul  puts 
forth  its  new-born  life,  as  a  tree  in  a  kindly  soil 
invited  by  a  gentle  sky ;  all  that  checked  it  has 
passed  away;  all  that  draws  it  into  ripeness 
bathes  it  with  fostering  power.  Then  at  last  shall 
the  bride  hear  the  bridegroom's  voice,  "Rise  up, 
my  love,  my  fair  one,  and  come  away ;  for  lo ! 
the  winter  is  past,  the  rain  is  over  and  gone." 


186  CONSOLATIO. 

The  Refiner  shall  perfect  his  work  upon  them, 
cleansing  them  seven-fold,  even  as  gold  is  some- 
times tried,  and  all  the  taints  and  bias  of  their 
spiritual  being  shall  be  detached  and  corrected ; 
till,  by  direct  and  intense  vision,  —  not  as  now 
in  a  glass  darkly,  but  then  face  to  face, — shall 
they  become  pure  even  as  He  is  pure.  Hidden  as 
is  the  condition  of  their  sleep,  may  we  not  believe 
that  they  remember  us  1  How  much  of  all  that 
they  were  must  they  forfeit,  if  they  lose  both 
memory  and  love  !  Shall  we  think  that  we  can 
remember  Bethel,  and  Gibeon,  and.  the  Valley  of 
Ajalon,  and  Jerusalem,  and  the  Mount  of  Olives  ; 
but  that  Jacob,  and  Joshua,  and  David,  and 
the  beloved  disciple,  remember  them  not?  Or 
shall  the  lifeless  dust  that  their  feet  stood  upon  be 
remembered,  and  the  living  spirits  above,  that 
dwelt  with  them,  be  clean  forgotten  ?  May  we 
not  think  that  they  who  live  unto  God,  live  in  the 
unfolded  sameness  of  personal  identity,  replenished 
with  charity,  and  filled  with  a  holy  light?  They 
reach  backwards  in  spirit  into  their  world  of 
warfare,  and  onward  in  blissful  expectation  to  the 
day  of  Christ's  coming;  and  in  that  holy  waiting 
they  adore,  as  the  brightness  of  paradise  ever 
waxes  unto  the  perfect  day,  when  the  noontide  of 
God's  kingdom  "  shall  be  as  the  light  of  seven 
days,"  and  shall  stand  for  ever  in  a  meridian 
splendour.    He  hath  made  His  rest  to  be  "glo- 


CONSOLATIO.  187 

rious;"  and  there  is  He  gathering  in  His  jewels. 
There  is  the  multitude  of  saints  waiting  and 
worshipping;  Abel  is  there,  and  Isaiah,  and 
Rachel  who  would  not  be  comforted,  and  the 
sonless  widow,  and  Mary  Magdalene,  and  all 
martyrs,  and  all  the  holy  ones  of  God.  They 
wore  out  with  patience  the  years  of  this  toilsome 
life,  and  they  are  resting  now ;  they  "  sleep  in 
Jesus."  Their's  is  a  bliss  only  less  perfect  than 
the  glory  of  His  kingdom,  when  the  new  creation 
shall  be  accomplished. 


The  unohservedj  hut  true  participation  of  the  Cross. 

Let  us  understand  what  that  cross  is  of  which 
all  must  be  partakers;  not  the  visible  material 
cross,  but  that  which  is  more  real  than  the  reality 
of  fleshly  crucifixion.  It  is  not  so  much  by  suifer- 
ings  in  the  body  as  in  the  spirit,  that  we  are 
likened  to  Him.  The  railing  thief  was  more 
nearly  conformed  to  His  visible  passion  than  all, 
save  one  or  two,  in  all  the  multitude  of  saints. 
Yet,  though  conformed  to  Him  in  the  flesh,  he 
was  not  likened  to  Him  in  the  spirit,  St.  John 
and  the  blessed  Virgin  did  not  suffer  indeed  in  the 
flesh,  yet  were  they  truly  nailed  with  Him  upon 
His  cross.     So  in  all  ages  of  the  Church,  kings 


188  CONSOLATIO, 

and  princes,  no  less  than  bishops  and  pastors  of 
His  flock,  not  only  in  sackcloth  and  solitude,  but 
in  soft  clothing  and  in  the  throng  of  royal  courts, 
have  borne  the  marks  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and 
shared  the  reality  of  His  Passion.  Weak  women 
too,  moving  in  silence,  and  a  veil,  unseen  of  the 
world,  and  never  breathed  on  by  its  rough  oppo- 
sitions, have  both  carried  their  cross  with  Him, 
and  on  it  hung  beside  Him :  they  have  died  with 
Him  in  will,  and  in  sacrifice  of  self;  in  mortify- 
ing the  choices  and  affections  of  their  earthlier 
nature;  in  a  glad  forsaking  of  bright  hopes  and 
fair  promises  in  life,  sitting  at  His  feet  without 
distraction,  and  bearing  withal  a  burden  of  many 
sorrows,  partly  the  awful  tokens  of  their  Master's 
love,  and  partly  laid  upon  them  by  the  wrong  and 
enmity  of  the  world.  Among  many  samples,  let 
this  one  suffice.  We  read  in  the  life  of  one,  to 
whom  was  meted  out  a  death-sickness  of  uncom- 
mon anguish,  that  as  she  drew  near  the  end,  for  a 
long  season  she  was  uncheered  by  the  divine  con- 
solations which  were  the  wonted  stay  of  her  soul. 
She  complained  in  sadness  to  her  spiritual  guide 
of  this  strange  and  appalling  desolation,  until  she 
learned  to  seek  in  it  the  gift  of  a  higher  conformi- 
ty to  Him,  who  in  His  last  passion  cried  aloud, 
"My  God,  my  God,  why  has  Thou  forsaken 
me?"  In  like  manner  there  is  many  a  sorrow 
fearfully  hidden  from    the   world's    hard   gaze, 


CONSOLATIO.  1S9 

many  an  overlooked  affliction,  many  a  piercing 
of  hearts  by  the  lesser  sharpnesses  of  our  common 
griefs,  which  not  the  less,  when  borne  in  silence 
for  God,  makes  the  mourning  spirit  to  partake  of 
His  mysterious  cross. 


God's  design  is  to  bring  us  happily  to  Himself 
in  another  world,  and  He  will  leave  no  means 
unessayed  for  this  purpose.  If  we  have  the  same 
end  in  view,  and  look  up  to  Him  as  carrying  it 
on  steadily  for  us,  we  may  be  happy  both  here 
and  hereafter:  if  we  have  not,  the  consequence 
must  necessarily  be  despondency,  vexation,  and 
fretfulness,  at  the  ways  of  Providence. 


A  thorough  entering  into  Go(Vs  plan  for  our  cure.,  the 
only  safely. 

The  state  of  heart  in  which  alone  salvation 
consists,  and  on  which  alone  the  favour  and  bless- 
ing of  God  can  rest,  is  a  turning  from  the  flesh, 
and  a  returning  to  God,  and  a  trusting  in  Him 
as  the  true  rest,  and  life,  and  direction  of  our 
souls.  It  is  the  condition  of  a  heart,  which,  re- 
jecting all  other  confidence  than  God,  commits 
itself  unreservedly  to  His  hands,  that  its  purpose 
in   its   creation   and    redemption  may  be  fully 


190  CONSOLATIO. 

accomplished,  and  which  makes  this  surrender  of 
itself  to  Him,  in  the  full  knowledge  both  of  its 
own  sinfulness  and  liability  to  punishment,  and 
of  His  determination  to  punish  sin,  and  to  slay 
the  flesh  which  has  been  tainted  by  sin.  Such 
a  confidence,  it  is  evident,  can  only  have  place  in 
a  heart,  which,  believing  that  it  is  the  loving 
desire  and  purpose  of  God  to  make  it  blessed  by 
making  it  holy,  enters  fully  into  that  purpose, 
and  gives  itself  into  His  hands  for  that  end,  in 
the  expectation  of  sorrow  and  death ;  as  a  man 
afflicted  with  some  dreadful  disease  might  put 
himself  into  the  hands  of  a  surgeon  of  whose  skill 
he  is  assured,  and  who  has  said  to  him,  "I  will 
answer  for  your  cure  even  now,  if  you  will  give 
yourself  up  unreservedly  to  my  treatment.  " 


The  preciousness  of  the  Mediatorship. 

The  Mediatorship  of  Christ  is  a  precious  doc- 
trine. The  Kingdom  is  in  His  hands,  and  we 
are  privileged  to  receive  nothing  but  as  it  passes 
through  His  hand,  and  bears  His  stamp.  He  is 
Himself  the  Father's  unspeakable  gift  to  us ;  and 
now  every  thing  that  comes  to  us  comes  to  us 
through  Him;  and  in  its  passage  through  His 
hands  it  becomes  impregnated  and  saturated  with 


CONSOLATIO.  191 

that  very  love  which  first  gave  Him  to  us,  and 
constituted  Him  a  Mediator,  and  nailed  Him  to 
the  cross ;  and  with  all  the  holiness  too.  So  let 
us  call  nothing  common  or  unclean ;  all  is  holy, 
for  all  comes  stamped  with  the  print  of  the  nail, 
which  is  our  King's  stamp.  And  thus  there  is  in 
every  thing  a  sorrow,  and  also  a  joy  which  the 
world  understandeth  not :  a  sorrow  for  sin,  and  a 
joy  that  God's  holy  love  is  in  action  to  destroy 
sin,  and  that  His  cause  must  triumph,  and  He 
will  be  glorified. 

The  knowledge  of  the  Mediatorial  reign  of  our 
Lord  seems  to  me  to  be,  in  a  very  sweet  and 
special  manner,  the  "secret  of  the  Lord,  which  is 
with  them  that  fear  him."  They  will  feel  it  to 
be  a  light  thing  that  a  world  of  sin  should  be  a 
world  of  sorrow,  and  that  a  race  which  had  gone 
away  from  God  into  the  far  country  of  unbelief 
should  find  it  an  evil  and  a  bitter  thing  to  do  so; 
they  will  sympathize  with  God  even  whilst  their 
own  souls  are  torn  by  the  bitter  wages  of  sin,  and 
they  will  look  for  a  coming  glory. 


GocTs  will  accomplished  in  us. 

Let  us  receive  into  our  hearts  this  blessed  truth, 
that  God  has  and  can  have  no  other  object  in  His 
dealings  towards  us,  but  simply  and  solely  that  of 


192  CONSOLATIO. 

making  lis  holy  and  happy  for  ever.  He  who 
knows  this  truly,  can  have  no  wish  to  elude  any 
of  God's  commandments,  or  corrections,  or  judg- 
ments, because  he  feels  that  by  this  he  should 
only  elude  his  own  blessedness.  He  can  have  no 
other  wish  than  that  all  God's  will  should  be 
accomplished  on  him  and  in  him. 


He  who  sends  the  storm,  steers  the  vessel. 


Sorrow^  the  consequence  of  sin,  and  an  instrument  for 
purification. 

The  sharp  sting  of  present  pain,  which  is  God's 
testimony,  through  conscience,  against  sin,  is  but 
an  intimation  of  the  universal  law  of  His  govern- 
ment; and  all  the  secret  hopes  by  which  we  strive 
to  silence  this  warning,  and  whisper  to  ourselves 
that  in  our  case  sin  will  not  bring  misery,  are  met 
here.  We  see  that,  if  we  will  sin,  we  must  suffer ; 
that  our  sins  do  not,  as  we  are  ready  to  believe, 
of  themselves  leave  us  as  soon  as  we  have  com- 
mitted them,  but  that  they  stay  with  us,  and 
become  part  of  us.  We  have  been  weaving  the 
web  of  our  life,  and  it  abides  still  coloured  by  the 
threads  that  we  have  woven  into  it ;  and,  as  far 
as  we  can  see,  sorrow  is  even  needful,  as  the 


CONSOLATIO.  193 

means  of  tearing  out  the  lines  of  past  permitted 
evil.  Not  that  we  are  to  find  our  atonement  in 
our  sorrows;  God  forbid!  for  if  it  were  so,  our 
case  were  utterly  beyond  the  reach  of  remedy, 
since  all  our  woe  could  not  atone  for  any  one 
transgression  ;  but  because,  through  God's  bless- 
ing on  it,  suflfering  is  made  a  means  of  carrying 
on  His  cure  within  us;  not  indeed  by  any  virtue 
of  its  own,  for  sorrow  and  pain  have  no  power 
to  renew  the  heart  of  man;  of  themselves  they  do 
but  irritate  and  sour  his  spirit.  He  needs  a  deep- 
er and  a  more  effectual  cure;  and  it  is  only  when 
sorrow  brings  us  to  Him  who  can  work  this  with- 
in us,  that  it  is  a  blessing.  Then,  indeed,  under 
the  blessed  leading  of  His  grace,  it  turns  into  the 
choicest  mercy ;  for  to  the  Christian  man  there  is 
this  mystery  in  it,  it  does  bring  us  t&  Him  who  is 
the  true  and  only  Purifier,  by  driving  us  from  the 
world  and  from  ourselves  to  Him ;  by  bending 
our  separate  wills  to  His  will;  by  leading  us  to 
wait  on  Him,  to  seek  His  purifying  Spirit,  to 
cling  to  the  cross  of  His  Son,  with  all  its  bitter 
pains;  by  setting  before  us  long  past  sins,  even 
as  certain  changes  in  the  atmosphere  bring  out 
again  the  faded  spots  of  worn-out  stains.  So  that 
this  connection  between  suffering  and  transgres- 
sion rests  not  on  an  arbitrary  decree,  which  may 
be  dispensed  with  in  our  case,  but  on  the  neces- 
sity of  God's  holy  nature,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
13 


194  CONSOLATIO. 

on  the  very  needs  of  the  nature  He  has  given  us, 
on  the  other.  There  can,  in  this  world,  be  no 
divorce  between  these  true  yoke-fellows,  sin  and 
suffering.  The  man  who  allows  himself  in  any 
iniquity  is  taking  burning  coals  into  his  bosom; 
and  how  deeply  they  may  wound  him  God  only 
knows.  Jacob's  life  was  scarred  by  them,  till 
they  brought  down  his  grey  hairs,  after  many 
sorrows,  to  the  grave. 

Here,  then,  is  a  lesson  of  solemn  warning ;  and 
close  beside  it,  is  that  of  joyful  submission  amidst 
the  afflictions  of  life. 

For  what  a  character  does  this  truth  stamp 
upon  them !  They  are  indeed,  we  know,  the 
consequence  of  sin ;  perhaps  we  may  even  be 
able  to  trace  them  up  to  some  sin  of  our  own  in 
years  long  past,  and  in  this  there  must  be  bitter- 
ness. But,  then,  what  joy  is  there  in  this  thought 
(which  is  the  privilege  of  every  believer  in  Jesus), 
they  are  not  the  strokes  of  anger;  they  are  the 
blessed  remedies  of  the  most  kind  and  skilful  of 
Physicians ;  they  have  ever  formed  the  thorny 
hedge  which  at  some  period  of  their  lives  has 
shut  in  the  path  along  which  God's  chosen  ones 
have  been  led  on  to  glory ;  they  are  proofs  that 
we  are  under  training ;  they  show  that  we  have 
a  part  in  the  Covenant;  they  give  us  good  reason 
to  hope  that  the  blessed  Spirit  has  not  left  us; 
nay,  that  He  is  striving  with  us,  and  perfecting 


CONSOLATIO.  195 

for  us  His  blessed  work !  With  what  words, 
therefore,  of  love  does  He  uphold  us  in  our  sharp- 
est sufferings :  "  "Whom  the  Lord  loveth  he 
chasteneth  : "  "  God  dealeth  with  you  as  with 
sons:"  "Rejoice,  inasmuch  as  ye  are  partakers 
of  Christ's  sufferings !  "  And  hear  how  His 
children  have  replied,  "  Before  I  was  afflicted  I 
went  wrong ;  but  now  have  I  kept  thy  word." 

And  here  is  the  true  secret  of  peace  in  this 
world  of  trouble  —  to  yield  ourselves  always 
meekly,  as  the  redeemed  of  Christ,  to  the  hand  of 
God,  as  of  a  loving  Father ;  to  know  that  this  is 
the  especial  character  of  our  lives,  that  we  are  not 
under  a  grinding  rule  of  blind  necessity,  nor 
under  a  harsh  rod  of  vindictive  infliction,  but  in  a 
process  of  restoration ;  that  joy  and  sorrow  are 
mingled  for  us,  as  He  sees  best  for  us;  that  our 
joys  are  but  His  love,  our  sorrows  but  the  deeper 
tones  of  that  same  love ;  that  we  are  safe  whilst 
He  bids  the  sun  still  to  shine  around  us,  for  that 
we  are  His ;  and  that  He  will  keep  us  in  the 
dangerous  sunshine.  Nor  do  the  clouds  on  the 
horizon  trouble  us,  for  they  cannot  dim  that  sun- 
shine, so  long  as  He  sees  that  it  is  best  for  us  to 
walk  with  Him  in  its  glad  brightness.  It  may  be 
He  will  accept  our  quiet  waiting  on  Him,  and  so 
teach  us  through  it,  that  we  shall  hardly  need  the 
rougher  discipline  of  sharp  affliction.  Or  if  our 
sun  threaten  to  go  down  in  darkness,  —  if  the 


196  CONSOLATIO. 

clouds  gather  over  it  in  gloom,  still  we  are  with 
Him ;  and  to  be  with  Him  is,  for  every  child  of 
His,  the  most  really  to  be  at  peace.  In  the  storm, 
He  whom  we  love  more  than  life  comes  often- 
times the  closest  to  us ;  and  by  the  blessed  power 
of  that  divine  Presence,  the  world,  when  it  is  the 
barest  to  the  eye  of  sense,  abounds  the  most  rich- 
ly in  the  truest  consolation ;  and  the  sharp  edge 
of  earthly  anguish  grows  into  the  severe  reality 
of  heavenly  joy. 


What  is  misfortune?  Whatever  separates  us 
from  God.  What  a  blessing?  Every  means  of 
approximation  to  Him. 


Sorrow,  an  angel  to  he  entertained.  ^ 

When  sorrow  and  the  cross  come  upon  thee, 
seek  not  with  the  world  to  distract  it ;  drive  it 
not  away  with  fresh  sources  of  sorrow,  but  bid  it 
welcome ;  cherish  it  as  a  heavenly  visitant,  as  a 
messenger  sent  from  God  with  healing  to  thy 
soul;  and  thou  shall  find  that  thou  "entertainest 
angels  unawares."  Thou  shalt  find  the  bow  in 
the  cloud.  His  light  arising  out  of  darkness.  His 
form  upon  the  troubled  waters;  and  if  He  hush 


CONSOLATIO.  197 

them  not,  He  shall  say  to  thy  soul,  "  Fear  not, 
for  I  am  with  thee."  He  shall  make  it  gladlier 
to  thee  to  lie  down  in  trouble  and  anguish,  while 
He  is  with  thee,  than  ever  any  of  the  joys  of  this 
world  were  while  He  was  less  present  with  thee, 
or  wherein  thou  forgattest  Him. 

The  blessed  lot  is  not  to  live  joyously  in  the 
world  undisturbed  by  sorrow  or  suffering,  having 
our  good  things  in  this  life,  left  to  our  own  ways; 
it  is  to  lie  low,  (well  is  it  for  us  if  it  be  of  our 
own  accord,  yet  any  how  to  lie  low,)  under  His 
cross  :  though  for  a  time  it  lay  heavy  upon  us,  it 
is  not  so  heavy  as  sin ;  though  it  wound  us,  they 
are  "  the  wounds  of  a  Friend;  "  though  its  nails 
pierce  us,  they  are  but  to  let  forth  the  disease 
which  would  consume  us ;  though  it  bow  us  to 
the  earth,  it  places  us  not  so  deep  as  we  deserve 
to  be ;  it  casts  us  down  only,  that  when  we  have 
learnt  to  lie  there  in  silence  and  humiliation,  He 
may  raise  us  up. 


Something  must  be  left  as  a  test  of  the  loyalty 
of  the  heart :  in  Paradise,  the  tree ;  in  Israel,  a 
Canaanite ;  in  us,  temptation. 


198  €ONSOLATIO. 

Tmst  lightens  load. 

What  an  oppressive  burden  is  taken  off  a 
Christian's  shoulders  by  his  privilege  of  leaving 
all  consequences,  while  in  the  path  of  duty,  to 
God !  He  has  done  with,  "  How  shall  /  bear 
this  trouble 7 "  "How  shall  /  remove  this  diffi- 
culty 1 "  "  How  shall  /  get  through  this  deep 
water?" — but  leaves  himself  in  the  hands  of 
God. 


Delay  in  succour,  the  means  of  refinement. 
t. 

Divine  relief  comes  not  always  when  it  is  most 
desired,  but  when  it  is  most  fit;  and  when  that 
is.  He  that  hath  at  once  all  present,  past,  and 
future  things  in  His  possession,  is  fittest  to  de- 
termine. 

*  ^  ■*  *  ik 

St.  Paul  prayed  thrice  for  the  removal  of  that 
rude  thorn  to  the  flesh  (whatever  that  may  mean); 
nay,  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mother  Herself,  her 
Divine  Son  would  not  be  found  till  the  third  day, 
though  she  sought  Him  sorrowing :  and  Lazarus, 
to  whom,  even  during  his  sickness.  He  vouchsafed 
(a  title  to  which  all  Caesar's  were  but  trifles)  the 
style  of  friend,  was   permitted,  not  only  to  lie 


CONSOLATIO.  199 

a-dying,  but  to  die,  his  rescue  being  deferred  till 
it  was  thought  impossible,  and  was  so  indeed  to 
any  less  power  than  Omnipotence;  which  mani- 
fests that,  as  no  degree  of  distress  is  unrelievable 
by  His  power,  so  no  extremity  of  it  is  inconsist- 
ent with  His  compassion,  no,  not  with  His  friend- 
ship. He  whose  Spirit  inspired  the  prophets,  is 
in  the  last  of  them  represented  under  the  notion 
of  a  refiner;  and  it  is  not  the  custom  of  refiners  to 
snatch  the  beloved  metal  out  of  the  fire  as  soon 
as  it  feels  the  violence  of  that  purifying  element, 
nay,  nor  as  soon  as  it  is  melted  by  it ;  but  they 
let  it  long  endure  the  brunt  of  the  active  flames, 
actuated  by  exciting  blasts,  till  it  have  stood  its 
due  time  in  the  fire,  and  then  obtained  its  full 
purity  and  splendour.^ 


1  The  grejit  accuracy  of  the  simile  of  the  refiner  (Mai.  iv.  3, 
"  He  shall  sit  as  a  refiner,"  )  has  been  very  beautifully  shown  by 
a  reference  to  the  known  practice  of  persons  engaged  in  that  trade. 
The  refiner  places  himself  before  the  cauldron  containing  the 
metal,  and  separates  the  dross  from  the  pure  gold  or  silver  ;  he  con- 
tinues the  operation  until  he  can  see  his  own  image  clearly  reflected 
in  the  burning  ore.  It  is  thus  that  God  puts  those  whom  He  would 
refine  into  the  crucible  of  afiiiction :  their  "  trial  is  much  more 
precious  than  that  of  gold  or  silver."  He  sits  like  a  refiner  before 
them,  and  He  does  not  cease  to  fan  the  flame  and  remove  the  dross, 
until  He  sees  His  own  image  reflected  in  His  tried  aad  afflicted 
servant. 


200  CONSOLATIO. 

The  Jubilate  of  Nature. 

To  the  unenlightened  man  the  world  and  his 
own  kind  may  appear  like  a  reed  shaken  by  the 
wind ;  by  the  sensual  man  every  thing  may  be 
regarded  as  the  means  and  fuel  of  luxury  ;  but  to 
the  Christian,  whose  eye  has  been  purged,  the 
sphere  of  whose  vision  has  been  enlarged  by  faith, 
the  world  is  as  a  prophet  that  tells  him  of  God  ; 
and  be  hears  all  nature,  animate  and  inanimate, 
joining  in  the  choral  hymn  of  adoration  and 
thanksgiving  to  its  Creator.  Hallelujah  is  the 
sound  of  the  waves ;  and  the  mountains  reply, 
Hallelujah !  Hallelujahs  float  along  in  the  mur- 
muring of  the  streams,  in  the  whisperings  of  the 
grove  and  forest;  yea,  even  in  the  silent  courses 
of  the  stars,  his  spirit  hears  the  mystic  Halle- 
lujahs. ^ 

*  This  extract  was  the  last  made  by  the  suffering  hand,  which 
traced  these  pages,  and  is  here  given,  as  well  because  it  was  her 
last,  as  because  in  its  beautiful  chorus,  it  forms  a  fitting  close  to  her 
■work.  "  Blessed  are  the  dead,  who  die  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth  : 
Yea,  saith  the  Spirit  thai  they  may  rest  from  their  labors,  and  their 
works  do  follow  them." 


THE 


COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS.^ 


The  Communion  or  "  fellowship "  ^  of  the 
children  of  God,  ,both  dead  and  living,  with  each 
other,  and  with  their  Father,  and  his  blessed  Son, 
formed  topic  of  the  great  Inlercessional  prayer  of 
the  Redeemer :  ^  and  was  beautifully  exemplified 
in  the  practice  of  the  primitive  Church.  Where- 
ever  the  enemy  of  the  Cross  of  Christ  turned  his 
eyes,  he  beheld  men  of  every  kindred,  "  Par- 
thians,  Medes,  and  dwellers  at  Mesopotamia,"  as 

1  The  following  article,  upon  a  subject  of  common  interest  is 
added  to  the  work,  as  kindred  to  its  purposes  ;  and  as  forming 
suitable  topic  for  Christian  thought,  while  suffering  under  the  dis- 
cipline of  pain  or  sorrow  from  the  hand  of  our  Heavenly  Father. 
The  writer  has  aimed,  in  its  preparation,  not  so  much  to  say  some- 
thing new,  as  to  arrange  for  practical  benefit,  that  which  has  already 
been  said.  And  as  he  has  already  drawn  largely  from  the  article 
on  this  subject,  prepared  by  the  English  editor,  he  will  hold  himself 
responsible  chiefly  for  the  manner  of  its  execution. 

2  1  Cor.  i.  9.     Acts,  ii.  42.      1  John,  i.  3,  6,  7.     2  Cor.  xiii.  14. 

3  "  Neither  pray  I  for  these  alone,  but  for  them  also  which  shall 
believe  on  me,  through  their  word :  that  they  all  may  be  One ;  as 
thou.  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  Thee,  that  Ih^y  also  may  be  One 
in  us."    John,  zvii.  20, 21. 


-;^ 


202  COMMUNION  OP  SAINTS. 

well  as  Jews,  Greeks,  and  Romans  banded  to- 
gether in  a  common  society,  having  "  one  Lord, 
one  Faith,  one  Baptism :  "  they  were  "  members 
one  of  another;"  they  of  Antioch  sending  rehef 
to  their  brethren  in  Judea ;  Corinthians  to  Mace- 
donians; PhilHppi  to  Thessaly.  The  waters,  first 
smitten  at  the  Holy  City,  spread  and  circled  in 
undulations  of  love  over  the  whole  earth.  And 
wherever  subsisted  members  of  the  great  company 
of  the  Baptized,  they  were  saluted  as  "fellow- 
heirs  of  the  same  grace ; "  sharers  of  the  same 
hope ;  "  very  members  incorporate  in  that  mysti- 
cal body,  which  is  the  blessed  company  of  all 
faithful  people."  ^ 

Nor  was  this  fellowship  confined  to  the  living 
only.  There  was  a  communion  with  the  de- 
parted, as  still  members  of  the  same  body,  having 
borne  the  Cross  first  with  the  Church  mihtant,  to 

*  This  unity  of  Communion,  and  the  strong  terms  in  which  the 
ancient  disciples  spake  of  the  sin  of  schism,  furnish  topic  of  serious 
thoug-ht  in  these  days.  St.  Paul's  question  :  "  Is  Christ  divided?  " 
remains  still  to  be  pondered:  and  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  Chris- 
tians can  be  made  "  perfect  iu  one,"  and  "  one  body  in  Christ,"  and 
"  members  one  of  another,"  until  there  is  a  return  to  the  fellowship 
and  intercommunion  of  the  days,  when  "  though  every  city  has  its 
own  Church,  it  is  one  in  all." 

This  remarkable  unity  and  fraternity  has  given  rise  to  the  opinion 
of  a  filiation  between  the  early  Christian  Church,  and  those  secret 
Associations  for  benevolent  and  other  purposes,  which,  under  Mason- 
ic and  other  names,  have  subsisted  from  a  remote  age  ;  and  the 
ancient  "  Tesserae  hospitales,"  and  the  mysteries  attending  the 
Eucharistic  feast,  have  been  adduced  as  proofs. 


COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS.  203 

wear  the  Crown  afterward,  with  the  Church 
triumphant.  "  The  general  assembly  of  the 
Church  of  the  First-born"  embraced  the  "spirits 
of  just  men  made  perfect;  "  and  it  was  not  with- 
out reason  that  the  Dead  in  Christ,  like  the 
"souls  under  the  Altar"  whom  St.  John  saw^ 
were  believed  to  subsist  in  full  consciousness, 
memory  and  love  of  the  Church  on  earth,  and 
were  commemorated  in  Christian  assemblies,  as 
partakers  of  the  same  blessedness.^' 

This  communion  is  something  more  than  a 
mere  external  bond,  however  essential  to  its  vital- 
ity "  the  outward  and  visible  sign  "  may  be  con- 
sidered. It  is  a  real  One-ness,  which  no  rupture 
of  the  visible  bond  can  destroy.  It  is  a  commu- 
nion, which,  because  it  is  based  upon  Christ,  can 
never  die.  It  is  felt  by  the  dead,  who  have  gone 
beyond  the  pale  of  an  external  body,  as  well  as 
by  the  living,  whose  hearts  swell  and  throb  in  the 
sympathies  of  a  common  brotherhood.  It  is  the 
sharing  of  a  common  life,  one  with  another,  all 
with  Christ;  and  because  it  is  a  life,  whose  pul- 
sations are  derived  from  Christ,  the  communica- 
tion must  be  interior  and  secret;  it  must  be  a 
partaking  of  the  same  circulation  of  feeling,  the 
same  holiness,  the  same  love ;  just  as  the  distant 
vine-leaf  on  the  trellis  partakes,  by  the  instrumen- 

1  Rev.  vi.  10.  ^r  .=/J 

'Bingham's  Antiq.  Christian  Ch.  book  23,  c.  3,  s.  12, 13. 


COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS. 


talities  of  a  visible  connection  of  the  life  from  the 
interior  and  unseen  root.^  Christ  is,  indeed,  "  Hea4 
over  all  things  to  the  Church,  which  is  His  body  :^ 
but  the  vitality  of  the  membership  in  that  body 
lies  in  the  secret  communion  with  Him,  and  from 
Him  ;  and  the  fellowship  of  one  branch  with  an- 
other, and  one  member  with  another  is  dependent 
on  the  fact,  that  both  can  trace  their  life  to  the 
same  source  and  fountain-head,  finding  that  "  all 
its  fresh  springs  are  in  Him."  ^  And  therefore, 
when  a  Christian  leaves  the  communion  of  the 
Church  below,  he  does  not  leave  Christ,  for  the 
communion  is  interior  and  spiritual.  The  Body 
of  which  Christ  is  Head,  is  a  mystical  body,  of 
which  the  dead,  no  less  than  the  living,  are  "mem- 
bers incorporate."  The  company  of  the  Saved  is 
that  "great  multitude,"  made  white  in  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb ; "  ^  and  the  same  life,  which  beats 
in  the  Christian  soul,  offering  itself  at  the  altar  of 
faith,  is  that  which  quickens  the  Dead  in  Christ, 
who  "never  die,"^  and  constitutes  their  perfect 
communion  with  Christ  and  with  us. 

Now,  it  is  when  the  outer  life  has  departed,  and 
when  those,  with  whom  we  took  sweet  counsel, 
leave  the  circle  of  a  visible  communion  of  saints, 
and  go  down  to  the  dust,  that  this  inner  life  and 
communion  becomes  most  precious.     The  heart 

^  "  I  am  the  Vine  ;  ye  are  the  Branches."    John  xr.  5. 

^  Eph.  i.  22.       2  Ps.  Ixxxvii.  7.      *  Rev.  vii.  14.     *  John,  xi.  26. 


COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS.  205 

craves  its  wonted  companionship.  Death  seems 
to  have  oast  a  broad  shadow  between  us  and 
them.  Tfiey  have  departed  from  us,  and  we  feel 
the  loneliness.  And  in  its  desolation,  the  mind 
turns  to  the  revealed  Word  of  God,  and  the  dis- 
closures and  traditions  of  the  Christian  faith,  to 
learn  how  Christ  is  their  Resurrection  and  life ; 
and  where  is  that  sympathy,  and  communion,  and 
love,  which  the  dead  still  maintain  towards  the 
living ;  and  wherein  our  buried  ones  are  "  gone, 
but  not  lost."  It  is  natural  that  we  should  seek 
to  know,  where  they  are ;  what  their  life ;  and 
how  they  are  employed.  We  ask,  do  they  live 
near  us  ?  are  they  yet  with  us  ?  can  they  know 
our  sorrows  for  them  1  do  they  love  us,  still  1  and 
God  permits  us  to  suffer  from  such  unsatisfied 
longings  and  inquiries,  proposing  to  our  faith  only 
this  —  that  they  live  in  Christ,  and  that  in  Him, 
"we  should  seek  them,  and  shall  know  them.  But 
we  do  not  sorrow  as  those  without  hope. 

Something  is  known  of  their  destiny.  And  it 
is  written  in  the  records  of  that  Gospel,  which 
reveals  the  life  of  the  soul,  that  when  Christ  shall 
come  again,  He  will  bring  back  those,  who  sleep 
in  Him.i  They  are  not  dead.  They  sleep.  And 
they  sleep  in  Him:  they  are  in  His  keeping; 
hidden  within  the  shady  hollow  of  His  mighty 
heart ;  for  if  He  will  bring  them  then,  they  must 

1  1  Thess.  ir. 


206  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS. 

be  under  His  keeping  now.  St.  Paul  has  in  posi- 
tive terms  assured  us  of  this,  when  he  says,  that 
"  to  be  absent  from  the  body  is  to  be  present  with 
the  Lord;"  and  no  less  so  when  he  declares  by 
implication,  that  "  to  depart,^^  and  "  to  be  with 
Christ"  is  one  and  the  same  thing. 

It  is  upon  such  texts  as  these,  that  we  ground 
our  strong  assurance  of  the  conscious  happiness 
and  blessedness  of  the  Dead  in  Christ.  They  are 
with  him :  and  they  are  therefore  blest,  and  our 
faith  that  they  are  conscious  of  this  blessedness 
is  world-wide  expressed  in  those  funeral  prayers 
of  the  Anglican  communion,  which  are  known 
and  read  wherever  the  language  of  our  Father- 
land prevails.  "  Almighty  God,  with  whom  do 
live  the  spirits  of  them  that  depart  hence  in  the 
Lord,  and  with  whom  the  souls  of  the  faithful, 
after  they  are  delivered  from  the  burden  of  the 
flesh,  are  in  joy  and  felicity ;  we  give  Thee  hearty 
thanks,  for  that  it  hath  pleased  Thee  to  deliver 
this  our  brother  out  of  the  miseries  of  this  sinful 
world ;  beseeching  Thee,  that  it  may  please  Thee, 
of  thy  gracious  goodness,  shortly  to  accomplish 
the  number  of  thine  elect,  and  to  hasten  thy  king- 
dom ;  that  we,  with  all  those  that  are  departed  in 
the  true  faith  of  thy  holy  name,  may  have  our 
perfect  consummation  and  bliss,  both  in  body 
and  soul,  in  thy  eternal  and  everlasting  glory  ; 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen." 


COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS.  207 

The  cofRn  is  lowered :  dust  is  committed  to 
dust :  we  have  lost  sight  of  the  object  of  our 
heart's  tenderest  affections :  the  cold  grave  seems 
to  possess  that  which  was  once  ours,  and  which 
we  long  to  recover,  and  to  mode  any  words  of 
resurrection  and  hope,  which  can  be  said  over 
the  dead.  But  our  faith  tells  us  it  is  not  so: 
Christ  is  still  our  life  and  theirs  :  our  brother,  or 
our  sister;  our  mother,  or  our  child,  is  not  there. 
The  dews  of  heaven  shall  descend,  the  showers 
shall  fall,  and  the  storms  shall  sweep  over  their 
coffined  forms,  but  they  themselves  are  far  away; 
they  are  at  home ;  they  are  in  the  presence  of 
Christ;  in  the  keeping  of  God :  they  Test,  happy, 
happy  spirits!  in  His  presence,  "in  joy  and 
felicity."  No  room,  therefore,  for  our  pity:  let 
us  neither  pity,  nor  —  what  we  may  be  more 
tempted  to  do — too  keenly  envy  them;  let  us 
bless  God  who  has  delivered  them  from  the 
miseries  of  this  sinful  world ;  and  whilst  we  ear- 
nestly strive  to  follow  and  patiently  wait  to  meet 
them,  let  us  constantly  pray  for  "  that  perfect 
consummation  in  bliss,  both  of  body  and  soul," 
for  them  as  well  as  for  ourselves,  which  our 
Master  has  prepared  in  the  many  mansions  of  our 
Father's  house.^ 

There  is  a  peculiar  expression  of  the  Apostle 

1  John,  xiT.  2. 


208  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS. 

St.  Paul  in  relation  to  this  inner  and  immortal 
life,  which  deserves  note.  He  says  "  Ye  are 
dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God."  i 
The  death  here  spoken  of  is  the  death  to  sin :  he 
says  therefore,  to  true  Christians,  that  they  are 
already  dead  and  buried;  nay  more,  that  their 
life  is  even  now  in  the  company  and  keeping  of 
Christ.  But  if  this  be  the  case,  death  natural  can 
make  no  alteration  in  this  respect.  The  life  of  a 
saint  departed  can  only  be  with  Christ :  this  is  its 
euthanasia.  But  it  was  with  Him  before:  it  is 
not  therefore  changed  in  locality :  it  remains 
where  it  was,  in  blessedness  and  in  bliss. 

If,  then,  I  am  in  Christ,  my  life  is  with  Him : 
the  lives  of  those  whom  I  have  lost  are  with  Him: 
and  so  shall  ever  be  with  the  Lord,  The  body, 
indeed,  is  laid  down;  but  the  life  is  where  it  was 
before,  only  exalted  through  the  struggle  well  and 
safely  passed,  and  now  perfectly  purified.  They 
live,  no  matter  how  or  where,  with  Christ,  in  the 
place  of  the  departed.  My  imaginings,  sanctified 
by  faith  and  prayer,  may  enable  me  to  see  some- 
thing of  them  and  their  employments,  but  liothing 
distinctly.  I  see  but  darkly.  Yet  if  I,  by  faith, 
by  prayer,  by  holy  obedience,  draw  nearer  to 
Him  now,  surely  in  thus  doing  I  draw  nearer  to 
them.     He  is  their  centre ;  He  is  mine  also ;   the 

1  Col.  iii.  3. 


COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS.  209 

shorter  the  radius  of  my  distance  from  Him,  the 
shorter  the  diameter  of  my  separation  from  them. 
"  Thus  draw  we  nearer  day  by  day  each  to  the 
other,  all  to  God."  ^ 


^  "  The  saints  of  God,  living  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  are  in  com- 
munion with  all  the  saints  departed  out  of  this  life  and  admitted  to 
the  presence  of  God.  Jerusalem  is  sometimes  taken  for  the  Church 
on  earth,  sometimes  for  that  part  of  the  Church  which  is  in  heaven, 
10  show  that  as  both  are  represented  by  one,  so  both  are  but  one  city 
of  God.  Wherefore  thus  doth  the  Apostle  speak  to  such  as  are 
called  to  the  Christian  faith  :  '  Ye  are  come  unto  Mount  Zion,  and 
unto  the  city  of  the  living  God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  aQ 
innumerable  company  of  angels,  to  the  general  assembly  and  church 
of  the  first-born,  which  are  written  in  heaven,  and  to  God  the  Judge 
of  all,  and  to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  and  to  Jesus  the 
mediator  of  the  new  covenant.'  (Heb.  xii.  22  —  24.)  Indeed^  the 
communion  of  saints  in  the  Church  of  Christ  with  those  which  are 
departed,  is  demonstrated  by  their  communion  with  the  saints  alive. 
For  if  I  have  communion  with  a  saint  of  God,  as  such,  while  he 
liveth  here,  I  must  still  have  communion  with  him  when  he  is  de- 
parted hence;  because  the  foundation  of  that  communion  cannot  be 
removed  by  death.  The  mystical  union  between  Christ  and  His 
Church,  the  spiritual  conjunction  of  the  members  to  the  Head,  is 
the  true  foundation  of  that  communion  which  one  member  had  with 
another,  all  the  members  living  and  increasing  by  the  same  influence 
which  they  receive  from  Him.  But  death,  which  is  nothing  else 
but  the  separation  of  the  soul  from  the  body,  maketh  no  separation 
in  the  mystical  union,  no  breach  of  the  spiritual  conjunction  ;  and 
consequently  there  must  continue  the  same  communion,  because 
there  remaineth  the  same  foundation.  Indeed,  the  saint  departed, 
before  his  death,  had  some  communion  with  the  hypocrite,  —  as 
hearing  the  word,  professing  the  faith,  receiving  the  sacraments 
together ;  which  being  in  things  only  external,  as  they  were  com- 
mon to  them  both,  and  all  such  external  actions  ceasing  in  the 
person  dead,  the  hypocrite  remaining,  loseth  all  communion  with 

14 


210  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS. 

*  But  then  the  heart  sighs  invoUintarily,  Yes,  but 
there  was  a  sensible  communication  then  ;  the 
voice,  the  hand,  the  eye,  —  there  is  no  such  com- 
munication now.  Most  true  there  is  not,  and  yet 
there  is  that  which  is  hke  it.  My  Saviour,  the 
Son  of  Man,  the  new  Head  of  humanity,  has 
declared  His  presence  by  sensible  tokens. 

The  agreement  of  the  two  on  earth ;  i  the  as- 
sembly of  the  two  or  three  in  His  name ;  ~  and 
especially  the  receiving  by  a  lively  faith  of  His 
body  and  blood  in  the  Lord's  Supper  :3  these 
mark  His  mystical  presence. 

But  if  I  thus  truly  meet  Him  —  if  I  thus  really 
feed  on  Him,  in  whose  presence  my  departed 
friends  live,  and  if  /  have  His  mystical  presence, 
and  they  His  actual  presence,  have  I  not  a  sensi- 
ble token  of  their  nearness  to  me?  Do  I  not  in 
that  blessed  ordinance  enjoy  in  a  peculiar  manner 
the  communion  of  saints  ?  For  the  very  reason 
why  it  is  called  the  sacrament  of  the  Holy  Com- 
munion is,  that  it  is  the  most  marked  symbol,  as 

the  saint  departing;  and  the  saints  surviving,  cease  to  have  further 
fellowship  with  the  hjpocrite  dying.  But  the  true  and  unfeigned 
holiness  of  man,  wrought  by  the  powerful  influence  of  the  Spirit 
of  God,  not  only  remaineth,  but  also  is  improved  after  death  ;  as  the 
correspondence  of  the  internal  holiness  was  the  communion  be- 
tween their  persons  in  their  life,  they  cannot  be  said  to  be  divided 
by  death,  which  had  no  power  over  that  sanctity  by  which  they 
were  first  conjoined."  —  Bishop  Pearson  on  the  Creed. 
*  Matth.  xviii.  19.        ^  Matth.  iviii.  20.        '  Matth.  xxvi.  26,  23. 


COMMUNION  OP  SAINTS.  211 

well  as  the  most  efficacious  and  affecting  means 
of  communion  with  them.  It  is  in  that  blessed 
ordinance  that  Jesus  Christ  is  most  evidently  set 
forth  as  crucified  amongst  us  ;  it  shows  forth  His 
death  until  He  come ;  it  is  in  that  sacrament  that 
all  the  rays  of  Divine  love  and  tenderness  seem  to 
meet  as  in  the  focus  of  a  burning-glass.  If  we 
have  (and  blessed  be  His  name  we  both  have  and 
enjoy!)  communion  with  Him  by  faith,  and  in 
prayer,  and  in  praise,  and  in  the  Word,  we  speci- 
ally, as  well  as  most  significantly,  enjoy  commu- 
nion in  that  sacrament,  and  do  verily  and  indeed 
partake  His  body  broken  and  His  blood  poured 
out  ;  we  are  very  members  incorporate  in  His 
mystical  body;  we  are  one  with  Him,  and  He 
with  us ;  and  that,  by  a  very  special,  lively,  and 
faithful  intercommunion  of  us  the  members  with 
Him  the  Head. 

We  stand  before  the  face  of  the  Lord,  though 
we  do  not  see  each  other.  And  just  as  two 
friends,  far  distant  from  each  other,  can  gaze,  at 
the  same  moment,  upon  the  same  planet,  upon 
the  same  star,  and  the  beams  of  light  from  both 
shall  meet  in  the  same  focus :  so  Christ  looks,  at 
once,  upon  me  and  the  loved  one  I  have  lost ;  and 
at  the  same  moment,  our  forms  and  figures  are  in 
the  mirror  of  His  beautiful  countenance,  as  much 
as  we  were  ever  together  on  the  earth;  perhaps 
far  more  so:  for  Acre,  flesh  and  blood,  sin  and 


212  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS. 

mortality  darken,  defile,  deface  every  thing ;  ihey 
are  the  great  separation  walls  between  the  truest 
and  the  tenderest  hearts:  but  there,  all  barriers 
are  removed  :  all  is  true,  and  clear,  and  open. 

But,  do  those  whom  we  love,  and  who  have 
gone  before  us  into  the  world  of  spiritual  realities, 
actually  know  what  we  are  doing  ?  The  Scriptures 
intimate,  that  in  part  they  do:  Their  brethren 
and  their  father's  house,  as  they  have  still  place 
in  their  affections,  have,  also,  a  place  in  their 
knowledge.  They  know  that  still  they  have 
brethren,  if  they  know  not  how  much  need  there 
is  to  testify  unto  them ;  ^  and  as  they  love  them, 
we  cannot  suppose  they  would  omit  any  means, 
in  their  power,  to  gain  knowledge  of  them  and  to 
benefit  them.^  But  the  nature,  and  the  amount, 
and  the  power  of  that  knowledge  are  hidden  from 
us.  Now,  we  see  but  darkly ;  and  know  only  in 
part.  And  the  obscurity  of  our  knowledge  will, 
no  doubt,  suggest  to  any  mind,  exercised  upon 
this  subject,  modes  and  ways,  in  which  all  its 
difficulties  shall  be  solved.  At  times,  there  seems 
to  be  such  a  nearness  of  the  departed  to  the  sur- 
vivor, as  that  he  can  almost  hear  the  rustling  of 
the  plume,  in  the  deep  silence,  which  surrounds 


'  Luke,  xvi.  23. 

a  See  Bp.  Heber's  letter  to   Miss  Stowe.     Heb.  Trav.  vol.  2. 
(Load.  Etlit.)  p.  350. 


COMMUNION  OP  SAINTS.  213 

him.  At  times,  and  specially  in  that  near  contact 
of  the  finite  with  the  Infinite,  the  meeting  of  the 
two  worlds,  the  line  of  boundary  between  the 
revolted  province  of  Earth,  and  the  kingdom  of 
our  Father,  which  is  touched  and  felt  at  the  Altar 
of  the  Holy  Communion,  there  seems  a  communi- 
cation opened  between  us  and  them,  and  Christ 
bridges  over  the  space,  and  "  living  and  dead  but 
one  communion  make."  But,  still,  all  these  feel- 
ings have  no  solid  Scripture  to  rest  upon,  except 
the  union  of  the  soul  with  Christ,  and  the  solem- 
nities of  Christian  worship,  because  of  the  pres- 
ence of  Christ,^  and  because  of  the  angels.2  And 
though  our  hopes  and  theories  are  pleasant  and 
plausible,  yet  from  the  imperfect  revelations  upon 
the  subject,  we  must  rest  satified  with  the  know- 
ledge, that  memory  and  consciousness  and  love 
are  still  exercised  by  the  departed,  and  that  per- 
ha-ps  they  are,  indeed,  very  near  to  us. 

But,  if  they  know  what  we  are  doing  and  can 
take  knowledge  of  our  souls,  only  as  spirit  can 
know  spirit,  even  as  the  Infinite  Spirit  is  capable 
of  communion  with  our  minds,  do  they  know  all 
that  befalls  us,  the  evil  that  happens  to  us,  our 
woes,  our  sorrows,  or  our  weakness?  Would  not 
such  a  knowledge  be  a  "troubling"  of  those,  who 
have    escaped   from   trouble?       But,   here  is   a 

1  Malth.  xviii.  19,20.  '  1  Cor.  xi.  10.      .   ■,'  " 


214  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS. 

serious  difficulty.  If  they  do  know  a//,  then 
must  their  views  of  things  be  so  elevated,  and 
their  knowledge  of  the  Divine  purposes  and  plans 
so  intimate,  and  their  minds  so  conformed  to  the 
Divine  will  as  to  say,  in  all,  and  through  all, 
"  Even  so,  Father,  for  so  it  seemeth  good  in  thy 
sight : "  or  else,  they  must  be  pained,  in  that 
place  of  the  departed,  where  pain  should  have 
end;  and  their  sympathies  be  painfully  aroused 
by  our  strugglings.  I  see  no  way  to  solve  the 
difficulty,  but  in  the  faith  that  their  communion 
with  us,  is  in  and  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Himself; 
and  of  course  that  it  is  by  Him,  adapted  to  their 
circumstances  and  ours. 

That  they  know  something-,  seems  to  be  evident. 
St.  Paul,  writing  to  the  Hebrews,  (Heb.  xii.) 
exhorts  them  to  activity  by  the  thought  of  the 
great  cloud  of  witnesses,  with  which  they  are 
surrounded.  The  figure  is  borrowed  from  the 
games  and  combats  of  the  Roman  amphitheatre  : 
where,  it  should  be  noted,  that  a  special  seat  was 
assigned  to  those,  who  had  been  crowned  in 
former  contests.  How  the  thought  of  their  pre- 
sence would  stimulate  a  combatant !  How  he 
would  feel  the  discriminating  eye  with  which 
they  would  regard  him  !  how  they  would  under- 
stand the  merits  of  his  practice ;  appreciate  his 
skill ;  or  mourn  over  his  failure.  It  is  true  that 
"witness"  may  mean  only  witness  in  the  sense 


COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS.  215 

of  martyr;  but  this  meaning  would  neither  satisfy 
the  figure  nor  the  reasoning.  Taking  it  in  the 
other,  which  we  may  conclude  to  be  the  true 
sense,  it  satisfies  both;  and  then  see  how  it 
applies  to  us  as  Christian  gladiators.  We  believe 
those  that  have  gone  before  us,  the  conquering, 
triumphant  dead,  to  be  spectators  of  our  contest. 
Here  is  the  limit,  —  they  are  witnesses  to  the  way 
in  which  we  are  carrying  on  the  great  battle,  but 
not  of  any  thing  else.  But  are  they  witnesses  of 
all  our  falls,  our  wounds,  our  blows,  or  buffets? 
If  sometimes  we  are  smitten  down  by  the  great 
enemy ;  if  sometimes  our  own  evil  hearts  lead  us 
astray  ;  if  we  fall  aside,  do  they  see  us  then?  If 
at  their  departure  from  us  we  are  weighed  down 
with  overmuch  sorrow,  do  they  see  that?  The 
question  is  difficult,  and  I  would  thus  venture  to 
answer  it.  We  may  believe  that  Christ  communi- 
cates to  them  all  that  it  would  do  us  service,  or  give 
them  happitiess  to  know. 

If,  therefore,  we  are  growing  in  faith,  deepening 
our  repentance,  waxing  more  valiant  in  fight, 
turning  to  flight,  as  we  have  never  done  before, 
the  armies  of  the  lusts  that  are  aliens  to  our  peace; 
then  we  may  really  believe  that  all  these  blessed 
symptoms  of  our  spiritual  state  are  communicated 
to  them :  and  it  is  a  right  rejoicing  thing  to  think 
how  their  souls  may  bathe  in  new  delight  as  they 
receive  the  blessed  intelligence. 


216  COMMUNION  OP  SAINTS. 

'  But  can  this  be  all  that  they  know?  We  can 
scarcely  believe  so,  and  for  this  reason  :  a  sym- 
pathy, only  in  success,  is  a  very  imperfect  sym- 
pathy ;  it  is  not  the  sympathy  of  the  Son  of  Man  : 
but  if  it  be  not  His  sympathy,  and  if  they  are  one 
with  Him,  we  can  scarcely  conceive  it  to  be 
theirs.  Real  communion  does  evidently  imply 
something  more  than  this. 

But  then  the  objection  arises,  that  more  than 
this  might  interrupt  their  rest.  Now,  in  answer, 
it  may  be  observed,  that  it  is  perhaps  a  low  con- 
ception of  their  state  previous  to  the  great  consum- 
mation to  imagine  of  it  that  it  can  only  tolerate 
happiness.  When  they  were  upon  earth,  they 
deeply  felt  our  difficulties.  It  was  one  of  their 
greatest  privileges,  and  they  felt  it  to  be  so,  to 
energize  in  prayer  for  those  they  loved,  when 
those  beloved  ones  were  in  sadness  or  in  difficulty. 
May  we  not  imagine  that  the  same  feelings  of  this 
kind  of  pleasurable,  though  not  passionate  energy, 
may  still  be   theirs  7  ^      They   are  not  Aveighed 


•  "  They  which  first  found  this  part  of  the  article  in  the  Creed, 
and  delivered  their  exposition  to  us,  have  made  no  greater  enlarge- 
ment of  this  communion,  as  to  the  saints  of  heaven,  than  the  society 
of  hope,  esteem,  and  imitation,  on  our  side,  of  desires  and  supplica- 
tions on  their  side, 

"  What  is  now  taught  by  the  Church  of  Rome  is,  as  an  unwar- 
rantable, 9o  a  novilious  interpretation." — Bp.  Pearson  on  the  Creed. 

"  Why  do  we  not  run  with  eager  haste  to  see  our  country?  A 
great  multitude  of  beloved  ones,  parents,  brethren,  children,  await 


COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS.  217 

down  now  by  the  body  of  death  ;  they  can  pray 
as  "  angels  that  excel  in  strength,"  flying  on 
wings  that  never  tire.  And  to  pray  thus,  to 
wrestle  like  Him  who  was  a  "  Prince  with  God  " 
in  prayer,  may  be  a  part  of  the  privileges  of 
their  triumphant  condition.  Passive  rest  is  not 
that  which  we  can  imagine  to  be  the  happiness 
of  a  soul  even  in  the  separate  state.  As  the  sky- 
birds  whirl  and  soar  with  a  kind  of  joyous  energy' 

our  arrival :  the  thick  and  thronging  crowd  regret  our  absence  — 
secure  of  their  own  safety,  they  are  solicitous  for  our  salvation." — 
St.  Augustine,  Sermon  181,  quoted  by  Bp.  Pearson. 

"  I  believe,  O  most  holy  Jesus,  that  thy  saints  here  below  have 
communion  with  the  saints  above  ;  they  praying  for  us  in  heaven, 
we  here  on  earth  celebrating  their  memorials,  rejoicing  at  their  bliss, 
giving  Thee  thanks  for  their  labours  of  love,  and  imitating  their 
examples  ;  for  which  all  love  and  glory  be  to  Thee." — Bishop  Ken, 
Practice  of  Divine  Love. 

"  Nor  have  we  communion  only  with  the  saints  on  earth,  but  are 
of  one  city,  and  one  family,  with  such  as  are  already  got  safe  to 
heaven.  Doubtless,  they  exercise  that  communion  towards  us,  by 
loving  and  praying  for  their  brethren,  whom  they  have  left  behind 
them.  And  we  are  to  exercise  it  towards  them,  not  by  addressing 
petitions  to  them,  which  we  are  neither  authorized  to  offer,  nor  have 
any  ground  to  think  they  can  hear  ;  but  by  rejoicing  in  their  happi- 
ness, thanking  God  for  the  grace  which  He  hath  bestowed  on  them, 
and  the  examples  which  they  have  left  us,  holding  their  memories  in 
honour,  imitating  their  virtues,  and  beseeching  the  Disposer  of  all 
things,  that,  having  followed  them  in  holiness  here,  we  may  meet 
them  in  happiness  hereafter  ;  and  become,  in  the  fullest  sense, 
fellow-citizens  with  the  saints,  and  of  the  household  of  God;  having  ^ 
loilh  all  those  that  are  departed  in  the  true  faith  of  His  holy  Name, 
our  perfect  consummation  and  bliss,  both  in  body  and  soul,  in  His 
eternal  and  everlasting  glory,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lard. 
Amen." — From  Archbishop  Seeker's  Lectures  on  the  Catechism. 


218  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS. 

when  the  winds  are  high,  battHng  almost  with 
the  clouds ;  so  may  we  imagine  those  blessed 
heavenly  ones  that  have  gone  from  us,  to  wrestle 
in  prayer,  and  meet  and  contend  with  the  sorrow- 
clouds  that  darken  and  distress  us,  whom  they  so 
deeply  love.  There  is  nothing  derogatory  to  the 
high-priestly  intercession  of  Christ  in  this,  although 
it  is  perfectly  evident  that  it  might  be  easily  car- 
ried too  far.  This,  however,  is  our  safety,  that 
all  communion  of  the  saints,  whether  on  earth  or 
in  heaven,  is  through  the  medium  of  Christ.  It 
is  not,  as  the  Romanists  say,  that  they- (the  saints 
and  the  blessed  Virgin)  are  between  Christ  and 
our  souls ;  but  that  Christ,  the  perfection  of  mercy, 
may  very  probably  allow  them  in  heaven  the 
great  privilege  of  intercession  which  He  gave 
them  on  earth ;  He  Himself  being  the  centre  of 
ail  such  communion. 

For,  consider  again :  —  When  our  Lord  gra- 
ciously commands  us,  by  His  Apostle,  to  pray 
one  for  the  other,  this  would  seem,  in  the  first 
instance,  to  conflict  with  the  all-sufliciency  of  His 
prevailing  mediation.  Why  does  it  not  7  Simply 
because  no  prayer  made  for  our  brother  or  our 
sister  here  upon  earth  can  be  availing,  ujiless  it  be 
made  through  Him. 

But  why  is  this  kind  of  intercession  enjoined  7 
Most  evidently  to  bind  up  all  the  members  of 
Christ's  body  in  the  communion  of  a  most  holy 


COMMUNION  OP  SAINTS.  219 

and  perfect  sympathy.  That  this  sympathy  does 
exist  ill  the  bosoms  of  those  that  are  gone,  is 
evident  from  various  parts  of  Scripture. 

When  Moses  and  Ehas  appeared  on  the  trans- 
figuration mount,  the  theme  that  filled  their  souls, 
was  the  sufferings  and  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 
That  which  fills  now  the  souls  of  the  saints 
departed  must  be  the  same  ;  and  their  interest  in 
the  saints  on  earth  must  be  all  based  on  their 
interest  in  that  same  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  be 
connected  with  the  share  which  they  (that  is,  we) 
are  taking  or  should  take  in  this  great  consum- 
mation. 

But  then  there  is  more  than  this  general  interest; 
there  is  a  feeling  and  a  compassion  connected  with 
our  sufferings,  our  dangers,  and  our  trials.  The 
cry  of  the  souls  under  the  altar ^  shows  us  this: 
it  was  a  cry  of  weariness  at  the  long-continued 
sufferings  of  the  saints  in  general. 

But  if  there  is  this  general  interest,  may  we  not 
conclude  that  there  is  a  special  anxiety  about  the 
state  of  those  they  love  ?  The  parable  of  Dives 
and  Lazarus  shows  us  this  incidentally.  We  can- 
not imagine  our  Lord  to  have  put  a  case  which 
had  not  a  foundation  of  truth.  We  cannot 
imagine  Him  to  have  described  Dives  as  caring 
for  his  brethren,  if  those  that  sleep  have  no  care 
at  all  for  those  that  are  alive  and  remain. 

»  Rer.  vi.  9. 


230  COMMUNION  OP  SAINTS. 

There  is  something  to  a  sorrowing  heart  very 
soothing  in  these  thoughts.  We  look  to  Jesus  as 
our  common  centre.  As  friends  at  a  distance 
hold  commimion  by  looking  each  night  at  some 
bright  meridian  star,  so  do  we  look  at  the  face  of 
Jesus,  and  know  that  our  departed  friend  is  gazing 
too.  As  friends  read  the  same  passage  of  Holy 
Writ  at  a  certain  hour,  and  believe  that  the  com- 
mon Spirit  through  this  means  doth  beget  a  per- 
fect communion ;  nay,  as  the  whole  Church,  in 
her  daily  or  weekly  services,  holds  blessed  sym- 
pathetic communion  by  the  means  of  this  common 
reading  of  God's  Word,  and  by  united  prayer,  so 
do  we,  looking  up  in  like  manner  to  Jesus,  com- 
municate our  thoughts,  our  feelings,  our  regrets, 
or  our  gratitude,  in  respect  of  those  our  friends 
that  are  with  Him.  Can  we  believe  that  He 
makes  no  communication  of  what  we  are  doing 
to  them  ? 

If  we  have  ever  neglected  or  injured  them,  and 
desire  that  they  should  know  that  we  are  lying 
on  our  bosoms,  and  smiting  upon  them  in  deep 
soul-penitence,  would  not  such  penitence  give 
them  a  serious  joy  7  Or,  if  we  look  back  at  their 
graces  and  their  virtues,  and  call  them  daily  to 
mind,  and  thank  God  that  we  have  seen  and 
known,  and  loved  and  honoured  them ;  is  it  un- 
scriptural  to  believe,  that  He,  our  common  Friend, 
may  communicate  this  to  them  as  they  now  lie 


COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS.  221 

in  His  bosom?  Can  we  not  imagine  that  they 
would  strike  their  lyres  to  new  tunes  of  praise, 
and  sing  fresh  hallelujahs  to  Him  who  had 
enabled  them  to  glorify  Him  by  obedience  when 
they  were  here,  and  to  leave  the  bright  legacy  of 
their  examples  behind  them  ?  Or,  if  we  are  sigh- 
ing or  sad,  or  in  difficulty,  and  pine  after  the  love 
of  those  that  were  once  our  friends  and  our  coun- 
sellors ;  is  it  contrary  to  Scriptural  analogy  that 
He  should  communicate  these  sorrows  of  ours  to 
them,  and  give  them  new  opportunities  of  inter- 
ceding for  us?  If  the  souls  under  the  altar  cry 
out  in  compassion  and  sympathy  for  their  suffer- 
ing brethren,  may  we  not  believe  that  they  who 
are  also  there,  —  our  friend,  our  brother,  our 
parent,  or  our  child,  implores  for  us?  Or  if  we 
arrive  in  our  daily  reading  at  some  passage  of 
Holy  Writ,  which  we  remember  to  have  given 
them  instruction  or  comfort,  when  they  were  with 
us ;  and  if  such  passage  come  to  us  with  a  fresh 
and  sensible  power,  when  we  connect  it  with 
their  memories ;  may  we  not  well  imagine,  yea 
believe,  that  He,  in  whose  presence  they  dwell, 
communicates  the  fact  and  the  feeling,  and  so 
brings  a  new  wave  of  satisfaction  over  their 
beatified  spirits  ? 

How  soothing  are  these  thoughts !  We  are 
bereaved,  it  may  be ;  we  walk  on  earth  in  silence 
and  in  solitude  ;  we  live  a  lonely  life ;  so  it  seems 


222  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS. 

to  Others,  so  too  often  it  will  seem  to  us.  But 
then,  think  of  the  communion  of  saints.  We  are 
all  of  us  together  in  the  great  circle  of  which  He 
our  Head  is  the  centre;  yea,  all  of  us  are  together, 
both  living  and  dead.  When,  therefore,  I  seem 
alone  in  my  chamber,  or  alone  on  the  hills,  or 
alone  on  the  sea-shore,  or  alone  in  the  crowd,  I 
am  not  really  alone;  I  have  companionship,  both 
earthly  and  heavenly;  I  am  with  Christ,  whom 
I  know  as  a  brother,  for  I  am  acquainted  with 
Him  as  the  son  of  Joseph,  the  poor  carpenter; 
and  I  remember  Him  as  the  lonely  man  who 
walked  by  the  Lake  of  Tiberias,  and  used  to  cross 
over  Kedron,  and  to  wander  about  Mount  Olivet. 
I  remember  Him,  therefore,  as  I  would  remember 
and  think  of  a  dead  friend,  by  the  places  He  fre- 
quented, the  walks  He  used  to  take,  and  the 
pursuits  He  followed.  But  my  earthly  friend 
whom  I  have  lost  is  with  that  lowly  lofty  Man; 
they  talk  together,  as  He  once  talked  with  John, 
or  Peter,  or  James,  or  Philip,  or  Levi.  And  do 
they  not  talk  of  me?  And  if  I  speak  to  Him, 
exalted  as  He  now  is  in  power  and  omnipresent 
Majesty,  will  He  not  communicate  all  that  I  say 
of  right  and  true,  to  my  friend  that  now  lies  in 
His  bosom,  and  is  with  Him  as  a  chosen  dis- 
ciple 1  ;  ■  ifli 

The   reason   that    these    thoughts  may  seem 
strange  to  some  is   twofold.     The   first  is,  the 


COMMUNION  OP  SAINTS.  223 

Romish  abuse  of  the  doctrine  of  communion  of 
saints ;  the  other  is,  the  forgetfulness  of  men  that 
the  body,  like  the  Head,  is  but  One. 

If  we  required  a  visible  Head,  as  the  Romanists 
do,  this  twofold  Headship,  that  on  earth  and  that 
in  heaven  would  almost  preclude,  or  at  least 
would  sensibly  interfere  with  the  communion  of 
the  saints  through  the  One  only  true  Head  and 
centre  of  union.  But  we  do  not  want  this  earthly 
Head  ;  it  goes  to  destroy  this  oneness  of  the  body ; 
it  separates  the  Church  below  from  the  Church 
above,  by  giving  to  the  former  a  distinct  head  of 
union  on  earth.  We  believe  the  Body  to  be  One 
all  through  the  universe ;  and  the  unseen  state  to 
be  as  real  as  the  visible ;  and  both  together,  to 
make  up  this  great  Church  Catholic,  of  which 
Christ  alone  is  the  Head.  Thus  we  live,  looking 
not  at  the  things  that  are  seen,  but  at  the  things 
that  are  not  seen  :  holding  communion  with  the 
saints  departed,  as  well  as  with  the  saints  alive ; 
with  those  that  are  absent  in  heaven,  as  well  as 
those  that  are  distant  and  absent  on  earth. 

And  this  feeling  of  the  reality  of  this  commu- 
nion helps  us  wonderfully  in  submitting  to  death's 
cold  and  dark  separation. 

If  we  are  removed  from  a  friend  on  earth,  we 
know  ordinarily  that  we  can  find  him  at  any  time ; 
and,  if  we  have  the  means,  and  if  duty  permits, 
that  we  can  go  to  him ;  or  at  any  rate,  that  we 


224  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS.  ^ 

can  correspond  with  him  by  letter.  There  is  — 
and  we  should  expect  in  that  dispensation  that 
has  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light,  that 
there  must  be,  that  which  is  analogous  to  all  this 
in  our  communion  with  the  saints  that  rest.  We 
always  knoiD  where  to  find  them,  for  they  are  in 
Christ.  We  shall  go  to  them  when  duty  permits, 
for  we  shall  go  when  God,  the  Lord  of  duty,  calls 
us ;  and  until  we  go,  we  can  correspond ;  for  Jesus 
will  communicate  every  letter  of  holy  love  we 
write,  or  pray,  or  sigh.  He  is  (so  to  speak)  the 
centre  of  our  correspondence  :  He  will  communi- 
cate nothing  that  would  break  their  rest,  and 
every  thing  that  would  pour  balm  into  their  hearts 
and  into  ours.  Nr 

We  must  remember  that  earthly  things  and 
earthly  relationships  are  but  patterns  of  heavenly 
things  and  heavenly  relationships.  All  that  there 
is  of  a  blessed  character  here,  has  its  perfect  cor- 
relative there ;  and  if  the  body  be,  therefore,  as  we 
believe  it  to  be,  One ;  then  our  correspondence  and 
communion  with  them  in  Him,  now  that  they  are 
gone,  is  the  same  as  it  was  with  them  before  their 
departure :  the  Body,  as  we  have  observed  above, 
is  as  strictly  One  as  the  Head  is  One. 

And  this  was  beautifully  signified  by  the  habit 
which  for  a  long  time  prevailed  in  the  Church, 
of  celebrating  the  Holy  Communion  on  the  death 
of  any  eminent  saint.     It  figured  forth  the  truth 


COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS.  225 

of  the  oneness  of  the  body  of  Christ.  It  repeated 
to  the  Church  the  truth  of  its  Cathohc  incorpora- 
tion. •  It  told  the  members  that  dwell  on  earth 
that  they  were  members  with  those  who  had 
gone  to  heaven.  It  told  the  quick  that  they  were 
still  one  with  the  dead ;  for  they  were  partakers 
of  one  life,  and  that  life  was  Christ.^ 


1  This  faith  of  the  early  Church  is  strikingly  illustrated  in  the 
monumental  inscriptions,  hrought  to  light  from  the  recesses  of  the 
Catacombs  at  Rome.  They  have  been  uncovered  to  the  number  of 
more  than  three  thousand,  and,  both  Pagan  and  Christian,  ranging 
in  antiquity  as  far  down  as  to  the  fourth  century,  are  now  placed  in 
a  hall  of  the  Vatican  ;  and  they  are  interesting  in  the  contrast  of  the 
light  of  life  and  hope,  breathed  by  the  Christian  mourner  through 
the  tears  of  surviving  affection,  to  the  darkness  and  despair  of  the 
Pagan. 

"  O  relentless  fortune !  "  writes  the  Roman  mother  in  her  grief  for 
the  loss  of  her  child.  "  Thou,  who  delighlest  in  cruel  death,  why  is 
Maximus  so  early  snatched  from  me  ?  " 

"Valeria  sleeps  in  peace,"  writes  the  Christian  mother,  "borne 
away  by  angels  on  the  Ides  of  January."  "  You  Have  already," 
writes  another  over  the  infant,  sealed  in  holy  Baptism,  "[begun  to  be 
among  the  innocent  ones." 

The  Pagan  inscribes  upon  the  tomb  of  his  friend :  "  Balnea,  Vi- 
num,  Venus  corrumpunt  corpora  :  sed  vitam  faciuut." — The  Chris- 
tian writes,  as  Placas  over  his  wife  Albaua  :  "  Jaces  in  pace  :  sapore 
merita :  resurgis  temporalis  libi  data  requetio."  "  Vidalio  in  Christo 
pace." 

The  oneness  of  the  body  of  Christ,  the  dead  with  the  living :  hope 
of  life  and  reunion  beyond  the  grave  ;  these  characterize  the  sepul- 
chres of  the  early  Christians:  and  they  evidently  looked  through 
the  days  of  bloody  persecutions,  in  which  so  many  sealed  their  faith 
in  Christ,  to  that  "  Communion  of  Saints,"  whose  full  fruition  could 
only  be  had  in  the  "many  mansions  above." 

15 


lUf  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS. 

Thus  it  is  that  we  think  of  the  departed  as  still 
•  living;  still  sharing  with  us  a  common  life;  and 
having  that  life  with  God,  though  disencunibered 
of  the  bodies  which  we  bear  with  us :  we  are  both 
and  all  in  the  same  great  temple,  but  they  have 
passed  within  its  veil ;  we  that  are  here  are  in  the 
outer  court,  — they  are  in  the  heavenly  chancel :  ^ 
there  they  converse  with  those  who  seemed  once 
so  separated  from  them  merely  because  they  lived 
here  long  ago;  but  who  were,  in  fact,  all  their 
lives,  their  companions  in  sympathy  and  hope : 
they  mingle  among  the  early  saints  ;  they  salute 
Abel,  and  Enoch,  and  Abraham,  and  Moses,  and 
the  prophets,  and  the  Apostles,  and  the  saints,  and 
the  martyrs ;  they  see  the  mysterious  form  of  the 
kingly  Melchisedeck,  and  the  veil  is  removed  from 
the  hidden  history  of  Adam  and  Eve.     In  such 

'  I  am  full}'  persuaded  of  this  as  of  a  necessary  and  infallible  truth, 
that  such  persons  as  are  truly  sanctified  in  the  Church  of  Christ, 
while  they  live  among  the  crooked  generations  of  men,  and  struggle 
with  all  the  miseries  of  this  world,  have  fellowship  with  God  the 
Father,  God  the  Sou,  and  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  dwelling  with  them,, 
and  taking  up  their  hahitations  in  them  :  that  hesidp  the  external 
fellowship  which  they  have  in  the  Word  and  sacraments  with  all 
the  memhers  of  the  Church,  they  have  an  intimate  union  and  con- 
junction with  all  the  saints  on  earth  as  the  living  members  of  Christ : 
nor  is  this  union  separated  by  the  death  of  any  ;  liut  as  Christ,  in 
whom  we  live,  is  the  Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world, 
so  have  they  fellowship  with  all  the  saints  which,  from  the  death  of 
Abel,  have  ever  departed  in  the  true  faith  and  fear  of  God,  and  now 
enjoy  the  presence  of  the  Father,  and  follow  the  Lamb  whithersoever 
He  goeth.  —  Pearson  on  the  Creed. 


COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS.  227 

society  we  may  feel  confident  they  are  moving, — 
ichere,  exactly,  we  do  not  know;  and  it  is  an 
almost  bewildering  thought,  that  they  who  talked 
with  us  bat  a  few  hours  ago,  are  now  perhaps  far 
beyond  the  stars  and  the  sunlight;  but  such  is  the 
infinitude  of  the  power  of  God,  and  such  is  the 
majesty  of  our  destiny ! 

"  As  there  is  a  perfect  union,"  says  Bishop 
Hall,  "betwixt  the  glorious  saints  in  heaven,  and 
a  union  (though  imperfect)  betwixt  the  saints  on 
earth  ;  so  there  is  a  union  (partly  perfect  and 
partly  imperfect)  between  the  saints  in  heaven 
and  the  saints  below  upon  earth ;  perfect  in  re- 
spect of  those  glorified  saints  above,  imperfect  in 
respect  of  the  weak  returns  we  are  able  to  make 
them  again.  Let  no  man  think,  that  because 
those  blessed  souls  are  out  of  sight,  far  distant  in 
another  world,  and  we  are  here  toiling  in  a  vale 
of  tears,  that  we  have  therefore  lost  all  mutual 
regard  to  each  other.  No,  there  is  still,  and  ever 
will  be,  a  secret  but  unfailing  correspondence  be- 
tween heaven  and  earth.  The  present  happiness 
of  those  heavenly  citizens  cannot  have  abated 
aught  of  their  knowledge  and  charity,  but  must 
needs  have  raised  them  to  a  higher  pitch  of  both ; 
they,  therefore,  who  are  now  glorious  comprehen- 
sors,  cannot  but  in  a  generality  retain  the  notice 
of  the  sad  condition  of  us  poor  travellers  here 
below,  panting  towards  our  rest  together   with 


228  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS. 

them ;  and  in  common  wish  for  the  happy  con- 
summation of  this  our  weary  pilgrimage,  in  the 
fruition  of  their  glory. 

O  ye  blessed  saints  above,  we  honour  your 
memories  so  far  as  we  ought ;  we  do  with  praise 
recount  your  virtues;  we  magnify  your  victories; 
we  bless  God  for  your  happy  exemption  from  the 
misery  of  this  world,  and  for  your  estate  in  that 
blessed  immortality ;  we  imitate  your  holy  exam- 
ples ;  we  long  and  pray  for  a  happy  consociation 
with  you;  we  dare  not  raise  temples,  dedicate 
altars,  direct  prayers  to  you ;  we  dare  not,  finally, 
oflfer  any  thing  to  you  which  you  are  unwilling  to 
receive,  —  nor  put  any  thing  upon  you  which  you 
would  disclaim  as  prejudicial  to  your  Creator  and 
Redeemer.  It  is  abundant  comfort  to  us,  that 
some  part  of  us  is  in  the  fruition  of  that  glory 
whereto  we  (the  other  poor  labouring  part)  desire 
and  strive  to  aspire;  that  our  heads  and  shoulders 
are  above  water,  whilst  the  other  limbs  are  yet 
wading  through  the  stream." 

Therefore,  with  angels  and  archangels,  and 
with  all  the  company  of  heaven,  we  laud  and 
magnify  thy  glorious  Name;  evermore  praising 
Thee,  and  saying,  "  Holy,  holy,  holy,  Lord  God 
of  Hosts,  heaven  and  earth  are  full  of  thy  glory. 
Glory  be  to  thee,  O  Lord  most  High." 


PRAYERS 

jf  or  tiie  use  of  SiUt  persons. 


IN   THE   BEGINNING   OF   SICKNESS. 

O  Almighty  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  who 
in  thy  justice  didst  send  sorrow  and  tears,  sick- 
ness and  death,  into  the  world  as  a  punishment 
for  man's  sins,  and  hast  comprehended  all  under 
sin,  and  this  sad  covenant  of  suffering;  not  to 
destroy  us,  but  that  Thou  mightest  have  mercy 
upon  all,  making  thy  justice  to  minister  to  mercy, 
short  afflictions  to  an  eternal  weight  of  glory.  As 
Thou  hast  turned  my  sins  into  sickness,  so  turn 
my  sickness  to  the  advantages  of  holiness  and 
religion,  of  mercy  and  pardon ;  of  faith  and  hope, 

^  These  few  pTayers,  selected  chiefly  from  the  works  of  Jeremy 
Taylor,  are  here  added  to  supply  words  to  those  who  want  them  ; 
to  direct  the  thoughts  of  the  weak  into  a  suitable  channel ;  and  to 
excite  that  spirit  of  habitual  devotion,  which  will  send  up  its 
thoughts  best  in  its  own  words  to  Him,  "  who  hearelh  prayer." 


230  PRAYERS. 

of  grace  and  glory.  Thou  hast  now  called  me  to 
the  fellowship  of  sufferings :  Lord,  by  the  instru- 
ment of  religion,  let  my  present  condition  be  so 
sanctified,  that  my  sufferings  may  be  united  to 
the  sufferings  of  my  Lord,  that  so  Thou  mayest 
pity  me  and  assist  me.  Relieve  my  sorrow,  and 
support  my  spirit :  direct  my  thoughts,  and  sanc- 
tify the  accidents  of  my  sickness,  so  that  the  pun- 
ishment of  my  sin  may  be  the  school  of  virtue  ] 
in  which,  since  Thou  hast  now  entered  me,  Lord, 
make  me  a  holy  proficient ;  that  I  may  behave 
myself  as  a  son  under  discipline,  humbly  and 
obediently,  evenly  and  penitently,  that  I  may 
come  by  this  means  nearer  unto  Thee ;  that  if  I 
shall  go  forth  of  this  sickness  by  the  gate  of  life 
and  health,  I  may  return  to  the  world  with  great 
strength  of  spirit,  to  run  a  new  race  of  a  stricter 
holiness  and  a  more  severe  religion ;  or,  if  I  pass 
from  hence  with  the  outlet  of  death,  I  may  enter 
into  the  bosom  of  my  Lord,  and  may  feel  the 
present  joys  of  a  certain  hope  of  that  sea  of 
pleasures  in  which  all  thy  saints  and  servants 
shall  be  comprehended  to  eternal  ages.  Grant 
this  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake,  our  dearest  Lord  and 
Saviour.     Amen. 


■•''1 


PRAYERS.  231 


UNDER  THE   PRESSURE   OF   GREAT   INFIRMITY. 

O  holy  Jesus,  Thou  art  a  merciful  High  Priest, 
and  touched  with  the  sense  of  our  infirmities: 
Thou  knowest  the  sharpness  of  my  sickness,  and 
the  weakness  of  my  person.  The  clouds  are 
gathered  about  me,  and  Thou  hast  covered  me 
with  thy  storm.  My  understanding  hath  not 
such  apprehension  of  things  as  formerly.  Lord ! 
let  thy  mercy  support  me,  thy  Spirit  guide  me, 
and  lead  me  through  the  valley  of  this  death 
safely;  that  I  may  pass  it  patiently,  holily,  with 
perfect  resignation ;  and  let  me  rejoice  in  the 
Lord,  in  the  hopes  of  pardon,  in  the  expectation 
of  glory,  in  the  sense  of  thy  mercies,  in  the 
refreshments  of  thy  Spirit,  in  a  victory  over  all 
temptations. 

Thou  hast  promised  to  be  with  us  in  tribula- 
tion. Lord !  my  soul  is  troubled,  and  my  body 
is  weak,  and  my  hope  is  in  Thee,  and  my  enemies 
are  busy  and  mighty ;  now  make  good  thy  holy 
promise. 

O  take  from  me  all  tediousness  of  spirit :  let  me 
possess  my  soul  in  patience,  resigning  soul  and 
body  into  thy  hands  as  into  the  hands  of  a  faith- 
ful Creator,  and  a  blessed  Redeemer. 

Lay  on  me  no  more  than  Thou  shalt  enable  me 
to  bear.  I  have  deserved  it  all,  and  more,  and 
infinitely  more.     Lord,  I  am  weak  and  ignoran  t 


PRAYERS, 


timorous  and  inconstant,  and  I  fear  lest  some- 
thing should  happen  that  may  discompose  the 
state  of  my  soul,  and  that  may  displease  Thee. 
Do  what  Thou  wilt  with  me,  so  Thou  dost  but 
preserve  me  in  thy  fear  and  favour.  Thou  know- 
est  that  it  is  my  great  fear,  but  let  thy  Spirit 
secure,  that  nothing  may  be  able  to  separate  me 
from  the  love  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ.  Then 
smite  me  here,  that  Thou  mayest  spare  me  for 
ever:  and  yet,  O  Lord,  "  smite  me  friendly,"  for 
Thou  knowest  my  infirmities.  Into  thy  hands  I 
commend  my  spirit,  for  Thou  hast  redeemed  me, 
O  Lord,  Thou  God  of  truth.     Amen. 


FOR   THE    GRACE   OF   PATIENCE. 

Thou  who  art  the  God  of  patience  and  conso- 
lation, strengthen  me  in  the  inner  man,  that  I  may 
bear  the  yoke  and  burden  of  the  Lord  without 
any  uneasy  and  useless  murmurs,  and  ineffective 
unwillingness.  Lord,  I  am  unable  to  stand  under 
the  cross,  unable  of  myself;  but  Thou,  O  holy 
Jesus,  who  didst  feel  the  burden  of  it,  who  didst 
sink  under  it,  and  wert  pleased  to  admit  a  man 
to  bear  part  of  the  load,  when  Thou  underwentest 
all  for  him,  —  be  Thou  pleased  to  ease  this  load 
by  fortifying  my  spirit,  that  I  may  be  strongest 


PRAYERS.  233 

when  I  am  weakest,  and  may  be  able  to  do  and 
suffer  every  thing  Thou  pleasest,  through  Christ, 
who  strengthens  me.  Lord,  if  Thou  wilt  support 
me,  I  will  for  ever  praise  Thee :  if  Thou  wilt 
suffer  the  load  to  press  me  yet  more  heavily,  1 
will  cry  unto  Thee,  and  complain  unto  my  God; 
and  at  last  I  will  lie  down  and  die,  and  by  the 
mercies  and  intercession  of  the  Holy  Jesus,  and 
the  conduct  of  thy  blessed  Spirit,  and  the  ministry 
of  angels,  pass  into  those  mansions  where  holy 
souls  rest  and  weep  no  more.  Lord,  pity  me; 
Lord,  sanctify  this  my  sickness ;  Lord,  strengthen 
me  :  Holy  Jesus,  save  me  and  deliver  me.  Thou 
knowest  how  shamefully  I  have  fallen  with 
pleasure ;  in  thy  mercy  and  very  pity,  let  me  not 
fall  with  pain  too.  O,  let  me  never  charge  God 
foolishly,  nor  offend  Thee  by  my  impatience  and 
uneasy  spirit,  nor  weaken  the  hands  and  hearts 
of  those  that  charitably  minister  to  my  needs ; 
but  let  me  pass  through  the  valley  of  tears,  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  with  safety  and 
peace,  with  a  meek  spirit,  and  a  sense  of  the 
Divine  mercies ;  and  though  Thou  breakest  me  in 
pieces,  my  hope  is,  Thou  wilt  gather  me  up  in  the 
gatherings  of  eternity.  Grant  this.  Eternal  God, 
gracious  Father,  for  the  merits  and  intercession  of 
our  merciful  High  Priest,  who  once  suffered  for 
us,  and  for  ever  intercedes  for  us,  our  most 
gracious  and  ever -blessed  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 
A  men. 


234  PRAYERS. 

FOR    SUBMISSION. 

O  most  gracious  and  eternal  God,  Father  and 
Lord  of  all,  I  confess  I  am  unworthy  of  any 
favour;  I  am  less  than  the  least  of  thy  mercies; 
yet  our  weakness  and  iinworthiness  cannot  be 
measures  of  thy  mercy :  Thou  art  good  and 
gracious,  and  delightest  in  showing  mercy  to 
them  that  call  upon  Thee,  and  that  put  their  trust 
in  Thee.  I  know,  O  God,  that  Thou  lovest  to 
hear  our  prayers,  and  Thou  delightest  in  the 
humble  and  resigned  desires  of  thy  servants.  O 
God,  I  humbly  submit  my  desires,  my  interests, 
and  all  that  I  am  or  have,  to  thy  holy  will  and 
pleasure ;  humbly  begging  of  Thee  that  I  may 
cheerfully  suffer,  and  obediently  do  thy  will,  and 
choose  what  Thou  choosest,  and  observe  the 
ways  of  thy  Providence,  and  revere  thy  judg- 
ment, and  wait  for  thy  mercy,  and  delight  in  thy 
dispensation,  and  expect  that  all  things  shall 
work  together  for  good  to  them  that  fear  Thee. 
Oh,  let  thy  holy  Spirit  for  ever  be  present  with 
me,  and  make  me  to  fear  Thee  and  to  love  Thee 
above  all  things  in  the  world,  for  ever ;  and  then 
no  ill  can  come  unto  thy  servant,  for  whosoever 
loves  Thee  cannot  perish. 

Hear  the  prayer  of  thy  servant,  and  relieve  my 
sorrow,  and  sanctify  my  desires,  and  accept  me 
in  the  Son  of  thy  love,  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ.     Amen. 


PRAYERS.  235 

FOR    GRACE. 

O  Almighty  God,  Thou  art  the  Judge  of  all  the 
world,  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Father  of  mercies,  the  Fathjer  of  men  and  angels; 
Thou  lovest  not  that  a  sinner  should  perish,  but 
delightest  in  our  salvation,  and  hast  in  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  established  the  covenant  of  repent- 
ance, and  promised  pardon  to  all  them  that 
confess  their  sins,  and  forsake  them.  O  my  God, 
be  pleased  to  work  in  me  what  Thou  hast  com- 
manded should  be  in  me.  Lord,  I  am  a  dry  tree, 
who  neither  have  brought  forth  fruit  unto  Thee 
and  unto  holiness,  nor  have  wept  out  salutary 
tears,  the  instrument  of  life  and  restitution,  but 
have  behaved  myself  like  an  unconcerned  person 
in  the  ruins  and  breaches  of  my  soul  ;  but,  O 
God,  Thou  art  my  God ;  early  will  I  seek  Thee  : 
my  soul  thirsteth  for  Thee  in  a  barren  and  thirsty 
land,  where  no  water  is. 

Oh,  let  the  cry  of  thy  Son's  blood,  who  offers 
an  eternal  sacrifice  to  Thee,  speak  on  my  behalf. 
My  conscience  does  accuse  me  ;  the  devils  rejoice 
in  my  fall,  and  aggravate  my  crimes,  already  too 
great;  and  thy  holy  Spirit  is  grieved  by  me.  But 
my  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  died  for  me,  and  Thou 
pitiest  me ;  and  thy  holy  Spirit  still  calls  upon 
me,  and  I  am  willing  to  come;  but  I  cannot  come 
unless  Thou  drawest  me  with  cords  of  love.     Oh, 


236  PRAYERS. 

draw  me  unto  Thee  by  the  arguments  of  charity, 
by  the  endearments  of  thy  mercies,  by  the  order 
of  thy  Providence,  by  the  hope  of  thy  promises, 
by  the  sense  of  thy  comforts,  by  the  conviction  of 
my  understanding,  by  the  zeal  and  passion  of  holy 
affections,  by  an  unreproveable  faith  and  an  hum- 
ble hope,  by  a  rehgious  fear  and  an  increasing 
love,  by  the  obedience  of  precepts  and  efficacy  of 
holy  example,  by  thy  power  and  thy  wisdom,  by 
the  love  of  thy  Son,  and  the  grace  of  thy  Spirit. 

I  am  not  worthy,  O  Lord,  I  am  not  worthy  to 
come  into  thy  presence;  and  where  shall  I  appear, 
who  have  put  my  Lord  to  death,  and  crucified 
the  Lord  of  Life?  Where  should  I  appear  but 
before  my  Saviour,  who  died  for  them  that  have 
murdered  Him  ;  who  hath  loved  them  that  hated 
Him;  who  is  the  Saviour  of  his  enemies,  and  the 
life  of  the  dead,  and  the  redemption  of  captives, 
and  the  advocate  for  sinners;  and  all  we  do  need, 
and  all  we  can  desire? 

Lord,  give  me  the  grace  of  tears  and  pungent 
sorrow ;  turn  my  sin  into  repentance,  and  let  my 
repentance  proceed  to  pardon  and  refreshment. 
Support  me  with  thy  graces,  strengthen  me  with 
thy  Spirit,  soften  my  heart  with  the  dew  of 
heaven,  with  penitential  showers.  Make  the  re- 
maining portion  of  my  days  full  of  caution  and 
observance,  strong  and  resolute,  patient  and 
severe. 


PRAYERS.  237 

Grant  that  in  thy  wounds  I  may  find  safety;  in 
thy  stripes,  my  cure;  in  thy  pain  my  peace;  in 
thy  cross,  my  victory ;  in  thy  resurrection,  my 
triumph  ;  and  a  crown  of  righteousness  in  the 
glories  of  thy  eternal  kingdom. 


CONFORMITY  OF   WILL   AND  JOYFUL   HOPE. 

Give  me  grace,  O  merciful  Father,  to  put  the 
rudder  of  ray  life  into  thy  hands,  to  steer  the 
course  of  it  as  seemeth  Thee  good  ;  for  believing 
that  Thou  lovest  me,  and  behaving  withal  that 
Thou  art  wiser  than  I  am,  I  needs  must  confess, 
that  whatsoever  Thou  doest  with  me  is  better 
than  my  own  choosing  for  myself  would  be  ;  and 
by  all  the  troubles  and  unhappinessof  this  life,  en- 
able me  to  gain  this,  that  when  they  most  abound 
upon  me,  I  may  feel  myself  a  stranger,  and  be- 
have as  such ;  and  think,  thereupon,  with,  more 
delight  and  stronger  desires  on  my  own  country, 
and  the  rich  and  sure  inheritance  that  lies  there, 
and  the  ease  and  rest  I  shall  have  when  I  come 
thither.  O  happy  indeed,  good  Lord,  are  the 
stones  Thou  choosest  to  be  living  stones  in  thy 
spiritual  temple,  though  they  be  hewed,  and  ham- 
mered, and  polished  for  it  by  trials  and  afflictions. 
How  much  happier  to  be  the  meanest  expectant 


238  PRAYERS. 

of  the  glory  to  come,  than  the  sole  possessor  of  all 
the  world  !  May  my  soul  have  a  continual  de- 
sire to  go  to  that  company  which  is  above  ;  to  the 
spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  to  the  company 
of  angels,  but  most  of  all  to  Thee,  O  God,  and  to 
Jesus,  the  Mediator  of  the  New  Testament !  In 
that  excellent  country.  Thou  hast  told  me,  O  Fa- 
ther, that  there  is  light  and  love,  and  nothing  else; 
that  thy  saints  will  there  be  happy  for  ever;  that 
they  shall  die  no  more,  shall  sorrow  no  more, 
shall  be  sick  no  more,  shall  doubt  no  more.  How 
cheerfully,  then,  may  a  Christian  go  through  all 
the  sorrows  and  adversities  of  this  transitory  life  ! 
To  Thee,  O  blessed  Lord,  I  commend  and  com- 
mit myself,  both  for  time  and  eternity,  in  the 
name  of  my  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     Amen. 

O  compassionate  Father,  I  would  render  unto 
Thee  most  humble  thanks  for  that  wonderful 
gradation  of  mercies  shown  to  me  in  thy  Son.  In 
Him  Thou  dost  offer  me  thy  holy  Spirit,  and  with 
it  the  whole  golden  mine  of  all  spiritual  comfort 
and  good;  allowing  me,  when  wearied  by  the  fol- 
lies and  miseries  of  the  world,  to  refresh  my  soul 
in  Thee ;  yea,  enjoining  it  upon  me  to  speak  my 
mind  to  Thee  freely,  as  the  kindest  and  tenderest 
of  all  Fathers,  with  the  sure  confidence  that,  as ' 
Thou  art  withal  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  so 
Thou  wilt  make  all  different  lines  always  to  con- 


PRAYERS.  239 

center  in  my  highest  good,  how  opposite  soever  in 
appearance  now.  I  do  humbly  confess  my  great 
need  of  afflictions,  —  yea,  of  many  afflictions ; 
keep  me,  therefore,  I  pray  Thee,  from  ever  prom- 
ising myself  an  exemption,  ahhough  my  present 
state  be  ever  so  free  from  them  ;  and  for  the 
number  and  weight  of  them,  let  me  resign  that 
altogether  into  thy  hands,  who  art  my  wise  Father 
and  Physician,  who  knowest  my  mould  and  mal- 
adies, and  what  kind  of  chastisement  is  needful 
for  my  cure.  But,  merciful  Father,  let  me  never 
so  wrong  myself  as  to  entertain  any  care  at  all 
but  such  as  I  may  put  into  thy  hands,  and  make 
thine  on  my  behalf.  May  I  have  grace  to  give 
up  all  outward  things  into  thy  hands,  referring 
the  disposal  of  them  to  Thee,  and  that  heartily 
and  fully  !  Even  in  the  darkest  night  of  sorrow, 
may  I  cast  anchor  in  Thee,  an 4  repose  "bn  Thee 
when  I  see  no  light ;  remembering  that  this  is  not 
my  hope,  nor  the  place  of  my  rest,  but  the  place 
of  my  trial  and  conflict;  and  that  my  home  is 
al)ove.  Good  Lord  and  Father,  of  thine  infinite 
mercy  Thou  hast  called  me  to  eternal  glory ;  save 
me,  then,  I  pray  Thee,  from  ever  being  so  un- 
grateful as  to  repine  against  Thee,  and  so  to  drown 
a  hundred  great  blessings  in  any  little  trouble  that 
befalls  me ;  give  me  more  deep  thoughts  of  the 
things  of  the  world  to  come;  lift  my  eyes  to  that 
state  that  I  am  most  nearly  related  to;  direct  my 


240  PRAYERS. 

Steps  to  it,  and  lead  me  towards  it,  cheerful  and 
unwearied,  by  an  assured  hope  that  the  joyful 
day  will  at  length  come,  when,  as  Christ's  dis- 
ciple, I  shall  be  admitted  ijito  the  fullest  light. 


EJACULATORY  PRAYERS  FOR  ONE  UNDER  ANY  SEVERE 
,  SUFFERING. 

Bow  down  thine  ear,  O  Lord,  and  hear  me,  for 
I  am  poor  and  in  misery;  help  me,  meekly  and 
gratefully,  and  with  perfect  resignation,  to  bear 
the  chastening  of  the  Lord  ;  to  feel  that  it  comes 
from  the  hand  of  a  Father,  and  is  sent  with  de- 
signs of  the  tenderest  mercy.  I  implore  Thee  to 
bring  home  to  my  heart  the  blessed  assurance 
that  Thou  dost  not  afflict  willingly  nor  grieve  thy 
children ;  that  Thou  dost  it  for  our  profit,  to  make 
us  partakers  of  thine  holiness;  and  that  Thou  art 
sitting  as  a  Refiner,  watching  the  process,  and 
wilt  keep  thy  gold  no  longer  in  the  fire  than  as 
Thou  seest  needful  for  the  clear  reflecting  of  thine 
image  in  it. 


O  subdue  all  my  unwillingness  to  suffer,  and 
turn  it  into  a  meek  and  grateful  acquiescence, 
that  so  I  may  glorify  Thee,  and  show  forth  the 


PRAYERS.  241 

power  of  thy  grace.  O  my  God,  I  lament  before 
Thee,  and  am  most  truly  grieved  and  sorry  at 
heart,  that  I  feel  so  little  of  this  divine  and  thank- 
ful reception  of  thy  chastenings.  I  acknowledge 
and  bewail  this  my  great  sinfulness,  and  do  the 
more  earnestly  cry  for  grace  and  help  ;  for  I  know 
thy  grace  is  sufficient  for  me,  and  that  I  can  do 
and  bear  all  things  through  Christ  which  strength- 
eneth  me.  Leave  me  not  to  struggle  alone  through 
these  dark  waters,  but  let  me  feel  thy  helping, 
supporting  hand  :  let  me  hear  thy  sweet  voice  of 
tender  mercy,  saying,  "It  is  I,  be  not  afraid." 


Who  am  I,  that  I  should  complain  when  Thou 
dost  afflict  me  1  Do  I  not  richly  deserve  thy 
chastenings?  Have  I  not  every  reason  to  expect 
them,  seeing'that  there  is  no  son  whom  the  father 
chastenelh  not,  and  that  not  mildly  alone,  but 
even  "with  scourges?"  Thy  scourges  are  upon 
me,  O  my  God,  and  my  flesh  quaileth  beneath 
thy  strokes ;  yet  will  I  not  say,  "  Remove  thy 
heavy  hand  from  me ; "  but  rather,  I  implore  Thee 
while  Thou  art  scourging,  be  also  supporting; 
while  Thou  art  wounding,  be  also  pouring  in  oil 
and  wine :  as  my  sufferings  abound,  let  my  con- 
solations abound  also ;  and  let  me  feel  that  Thou 
art  very  pitiful  and  of  tender  mercy.  Blessed 
Father,  I  know  that  thy  judgments  are  right,  and 

16 


PRAYERS. 


that  in  very  faithfulness  Thou  art  afflicting  me. 
I  beseech  Thee  let  thy  merciful  kindness  be  for 
my  comfort,  according  to  thy  word  unto  thy  ser- 
vant. 


Be  not  far  from  me  while  trouble  is  so  near ; 
without  Thee,  my  frailty  cannot  but  fall.  Un- 
less Thou  sustain  me,  I  shall  faint  under  my 
burden.  Leave  me  not,  therefore,  neither  forsake 
me,  Thou  God  of  my  salvation.  Give  me  a  holy 
readiness  to  suffer  as  much  and  as  long  as  Thou 
pleasest.  Let  me  say  with  Jesus,  "  Not  my  will, 
but  thine  be  done."  O  Jesus,  my  Lord,  and  my 
God,  my  gracious,  compassionate,  loving  Saviour 
—  my  High  Priest,  who  art  touched  with  the 
feelings  of  my  infirmities,  because  Thou  wast 
thyself  made  perfect  through  suffering,  teach  me 
to  reckon  that  the  sufferings  of  this  present  time 
are  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  glory  that 
shall  be  revealed,  and  enable  me  even  to  rejoice 
in  bearing  in  my  body  the  marks  of  the  Lord 
Jesus.  May  I  joyfully  suffer  here  with  Thee, 
that  I  may  gloriously  reign  with  Thee  hereafter. 
Let  me  count  of  this  affliction  that  it  is  light,  and 
but  for  a  moment ;  and  let  it  work  for  me  a  far 
more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory. 


PRAYERS.  243 

O  meek  and  suffering  Lamb  of  God,  may  I 
suffer  meekly  like  Thee.  May  I  give  my  back  to 
Him  that  smiteth  me,  even  my  righteous  Father ; 
and  since  it  "pleased  Him  to  bruise  Thee,"  who 
"  knewest  no  sin,"  O  let  me,  who  am  so  full  of 
sin,  humbly  bend  beneath  thy  chastening  rod,  and 
meekly  bear  the  bruises  caused  by  its  strokes. 

Thou  hast  promised,  blessed  Saviour,  that  thy 
people  shall  indeed  "  drink  of  thy  cup,"  and  "  be 
baptized  with  thy  baptism;"  and  shall  I  turn 
away  my  lips  from  that  sacred  cup,  and  not 
rather  count  it  all  joy  to  share  it  with  Thee? 
Thy  holy  Apostle  Paul  desired  to  know  the 
fellowship  of  thy  sufferings,  and  shall  not  I  desire 
also?  Shall  I  only  desire  communion  in  thy 
glory  and  thy  joy,  and  not  rather  account  myself 
blessed  to  have  fellowship  with  thy  griefs  1 


I  beseech  Thee,  for  thy  Name's  sake,  and  "  to 
the  praise  of  the  glory  of  thy  grace,"  bring  every 
murmuring  thought  into  a  glad  captivity  to  thy 
holy  cross.  Strengthen  me  with  "all  might, 
according  to  thy  glorious  power,  unto  all  patience 
and  long-suffering  with  joyfulness."  Oh,  that  I 
may  be  a  spectacle  to  angels  and  to  men,  of  thy 
mighty  power  to  uphold,  yea,  of  thy  glorious 
power  to  make  me,   out  of  these  depths,  raise 


Sit  PRAYERS. 

unto  Thee  not  the  voice  of  prayer  alone,  but  also 
the  song  of  praise  !  May  I  glorify  Thee  by  ex- 
hibiting all  the  graces  of  thy  holy  Spirit,  the  love 
which  endureth  all  things,  and  gladly  welcomes 
every  instrument  of  communion  with  her  Lord ; 
humility,  which  deems  all  far  less  than  her  ini- 
quities deserve;  faith,  which  realizes  the  blessed 
end  and  effect  of  suffering;  and  hope,  which 
rejoices  in  the  prospect  of  the  glory  that  shall 
follow. 


Let  the  Holy  Ghost  the  Comforter,  comfort  me 
in  this  sad  hour,  with  the  sure  and  certain  expec- 
tation of  eternal  joy  and  endless  felicity.  Quicken 
my  faith,  that  I  may  realize  those  joys  which  are 
at  thy  right  hand.  Oh,  that  my  pains  may  be  as 
blessed  angels  bearing  me  upon  their  wings  to 
heaven,  and  making  that  "  pleasant  land  "  appear 
more  exceeding  pleasant  in  contrast  with  this 
great  and  terrible  wilderness.  Blessed  be  Thou, 
my  God,  who  givest  me  such  expectations,  so  full 
of  rapture  and  transport.  Blessed  be  Thou,  my 
Saviour,  who  of  thy  tender  mercy  didst  suffer  and 
die  to  purchase  for  us  such  a  glorious  inheritance. 
Blessed  be  the  Eternal  Spirit,  who  brings  these 
precious  realities  before  our  sad  eyes,  filling  us 
with  joy  and  peace  in  believing,  and  making  us, 
mourners,  to  abound  in  hope.     Accept,  most  mer- 


PRAYERS.  245 

ciful  God,  these  prayers  and  praises ;  and  pardon, 
comfort,  sanctify,  and,  if  it  may  be,  relieve  thy 
poor  child,  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake.     Amen. 


PKAYER   FOR    SUBMISSION   WITH   JOY. 

O  God,  let  my  earnest  prayer  now  ascend  with 
acceptance  before  Thee  through  Jesus.  Father, 
withhold  not  thy  tender  mercies  from  me,  but  let 
thy  grace  replenish  my  soul.  Give  me  a  very 
enlarged  patience,  even  grace  to  rejoice  in  tribu- 
lation, however  severe  or  long  continued.  Give 
me  a  more  humbled  heart,  a  sense  of  my  need  of 
suffering,  a  deeper  sense  of  the  value  of  suffering, 
a  deeper  sense  of  my  own  unworthiness,  and  of 
thy  great  goodness  in  refining  and  purifying  me 
for  thyself.  Ah !  Lord,  let  me  not  shrink  from 
thy  holy  discipline,  or  faint  under  thy  kind  re- 
bukes. Let  me  never  be  weary  of  thy  corrections, 
or  turn  away  with  an  unwilling  and  unthankful 
heart  from  the  medicinal  cup  of  affliction.  En- 
grave with  thine  own  Spirit  on  my  heart  those 
gracious  words,  "  Whom  the  Lord  loveth,  He 
chasteneth."  May  every  day  and  hour  of  trial 
cut  the  holy  lines  yet  deeper  into  the  substance 
of  my  spirit.  Teach  me  to  estimate  more  highly 
the  value  of  trial  as  a  means  of  glorifying  Thee, 


246  PRAYERS. 

and  as  affording  golden  opportunities  of  showing 
m3rlove  to  Thee,  and  exercising  the  graces  which 
are  by  Jesus  Christ  unto  the  praise  and  honour  of 
God.  Let  me,  hke  a  good  soldier  of  the  cross, 
rejoice  to  be  counted  worthy  to  suffer  for  and  with 
my  Lord,  and  with  a  firm  and  grateful  heart  let 
me  take  and  keep  my  appointed  station,  though 
in  the  hottest  of  the  battle.  O  God,  weak  and 
feeble,  and  utterly  helpless  as  I  am  in  myself,  I 
yet  trust  in  Thee  to  make  me  strong  in  Thyself, 
and  in  the  power  of  thy  might ;  for  Thou  givest 
power  to  the  faint,  and  to  them  that  have  no 
might  Thou  increasest  strength.  Amen,  so  let  it 
be  to  me,  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake  !  to  whom  with 
Thee  and  the  Holy  Ghost  be  all  praise,  and 
honour,  and  glory,  henceforth  even  for  ever. 


SHORTER   PRAYERS    FOR    TIMES    OF    TRIAL- 

O  Righteous  Father,  and  ever  to  be  praised, 
the  hour  is  now  come  that  thy  servant  is  to  be 
tried. 

Behold,  Father,  it  is  fit  that  in  this  hour  thy 
servant  suffer  something  for  Thee.  Most  ador- 
able Father,  now  for  a  short  time  I  am  to  be 


PRAYERS.  247 

oppressed,  afflicted,  humbled,  and  disquieted, 
with  many  passions  and  infirmities. 

So  it  has  been  appointed  by  Thee ;  and  nothing 
happens  of  all  I  suffer  but  that  which  is  accord- 
ing to  thy  blessed  will.  This  is  a  mercy  Thou 
show  est  thy  friends,  that  they  be  afflicted  and 
§uffer  something  in  this  world  for  Thee;  in  what 
manner  and  by  whomsoever  Thou  pleasest. 

Without  thy  counsel  and  providence,  nothing 
happens  upon  earth.  It  is  good  for  me.  Lord, 
that  Thou  hast  humbled  me,  that  so  I  may  learn 
to  obey  Thee,  and  cast  from  me  all  pride  and 
presumption  of  heart.  Behold,  beloved  Father, 
I  am  in  thy  hands;  behold,  I  bow  myself  under 
the  rod  of  thy  correction. 

Strike  me  now,  and  make  my  proud  neck  and 
stubborn  will  bend  under  the  appointments  of  thy 
will. 

Make  me  devout  and  humble,  that  I  may  be 
ready  to  follow  every  beck  of  thy  Divine  plea- 
sure. 

I  recommend  myself,  and  all  that  belongs  to 
me,  into  thy  hands,  to  receive  the  correction  Thou 
shalt  think  fit;  for  it  is  better  for  me  to  be 
chastised  here  than  hereafter.  Thou  knowest 
what  is  expedient  for  my  good,  and  what  tribu- 
lation is  necessary  to  purge  me  from  the  filth  of 
sin. 


248  PRAYERS. 

Do  with  me  according  to  thy  pleasure,  and 
despise  not  the  sighs  of  a  sinful  soul. 

Thou  art  my  God  and  my  Deliverer  :  help  me 
in  the  day  of  tribulation. 

When  my  heart  is  overwhelmed  within  me, 
lead  me  to  the  Rock  that  is  higher  than  I.  Why 
art  thou  cast  down,  O  my  soul ;  and  why  art 
thou  so  disquieted  within  me  7  Hope  thou  ia 
God :  for  I  shall  yet  praise  Him,  who  is  the 
health  of  my  countenance,  and  my  God. 


JOLV,  1848. 

A  LIST  OF  BOOKS 


HECEXTLY   PUBLISHED   BY 


JAMES   MUNROE   AND   COMPANY, 

134  WnBUnston,  ©ppostte  School  Street, 
BOSTON, 

AND     LYCEUM     BUILDING,      CAMBRIDGE. 


poz:tr7,  &o. 


1 


RALPH  WALDO  EMERSON.     Poems.    In  one  vol- 

ume,  16ino.    Fourth  edition,  pp.  251.   Prico  87  cents. 
II. 

CHARLES  T.  BROOKS.   Homage  of  the  Arts,  with 

Miscellaneous  Pieces  from  Ruchert,  Freiligrath,  and  other  Ger- 
man Poets,    in  one  volume,  16ino.  pp.  158.    Price  6*2  cents. 

III. 

EPES  SARGENT.     Songs  of  the  Sea,  with  Other 

Poems.    In  one  volume,  16mo.  pp.  308. 

IV. 

WILLIAM  ELLERY  CHANNING.     Poems,  First 

and  Second  Series.     Price  62  cents  each. 

V. 

VERSES  OF  A  LIFE-TIME,  by  Caroline  Oilman. 

16mo.    In  Press, 

VI. 

JOHN  PIERPONT.    Airs  of  Palestine,  with  Other 

Poems.     In  one  volume,  ]6mo.    Steel  Plate,    pp.350.    Price  f  1.00. 

VII. 

THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  and  OTHER  POEMS,  by 

WitXLijj  B.  Tappas.    16mo.    Illuminated  Title. 


A  LIST  OF  BOOKS  RECENTLY  PLBLISHED 


GOETHE  AND  SCHILLER.     Select  Minor  Poems. 

Translateil  from  the  German,  with  Kotes.    By  Jobk  S.  Dwight.   16mo' 
pp.  460.     ftice  $1.00. 

IX. 

ESSAYS.     By  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson.     First  and 

Second  Series.  Fourth   Edition.    Revised.    16mo.  pp.  each  350.    Fiice 
75  cents.    Either  volume  sold  separate. 


CHARLES  T.  BROOKS.  Songs  and  Ballads.  Trans- 

lated  from  Uhland,  Korner,  Burger,  and  other  German  Lytic  Poeta. 
With  Notes.  12mo.  pp.  410.    Price  $1.00. 

XI. 

CHARLES  T.  BROOKS.     William  Tell,  a  Drama, 

in  Five  Acts,  from  the  German  of  Schiller.  Une  volume,  12mo 
]<p.  1:20.    Price  03  cents. 

XII. 

SCHILLER'S   WALLENSTEIN.      Wallenstein's 

Camp.  Translated  from  the  German  of  Schiller,  by  George  Moib. 
With  a  Memoir  of  Albert  Wallenstein,  by  G.  W.  Havbm.  16mo. 
pp.  143.    Price  50  cents. 

XIII. 

HENRY  TAYLOR.   Phillip  Van  Artevelde,  a  Dra- 

matic  Romance.    In  one  volume,  15mo.  pp.  25^.    Price  $1.00. 

XIV. 

STEPHEN  G.  BULFINCH.     Lays  of  the  Gospel. 

One  Tolume,  16mo.  pp.  206.    Price  75  cents. 
XV. 

GOETHE'S   EGMONT.      Egmont,  a  Tragedy   in 

Five  Acta.  Translated  from  the  German.  ]6mo.  pp.  152.  Price  3o  cents.. 


THE  BONDMAID.     Translated  from  the  Swedish  by 

Mrs.  Putnam     One  volume,  16mo.  pp.  1 12.    Price  50  cents. 

XVII. 

LYDIA  H.  SIGOURNEY.     Pleasant  Memories  of 

Plsasant  Lakds.    Two  Steel  Plates.    16mo.pp.  382.    Price  $1.25. 

xvni. 

LYDIA  H.  SIGOURNEY.      Scenes  in  my  Native 

Land.    Two  Steel  Plates.    ICmo.  pp.  320.     Price  $1  25. 


BY  JAMES  MUNROE  AND  COMPANY. 


TB.ILNSXj,Ii.T101irS . 


ESSAYS  ON  ART.     Translated  from  the  German  of 

Goethe,   by  Samuel  Gray   VVajd,     One  volume,  16mo.  pp.  264. 
Price  75  cents. 


WALT  AND  VULT,  jr  THE  TWINS.     Translated 

from  the  German  of  Jean  Paul  Richter,  by  Mrs.  T.  Lee.    Two 
volumes,  IGuio.  pp.  320.     Price  $1.00  each. 


FLOWER,  FRUIT,  AND  THORN   PIECES;   Or 

THE  Married  Life,  Death  and  Wedding  of  the  Advocate  op  the 
Poor,  FIRMIN  STANISLAUS  SIEUEiNKAS.  Translated  from  the 
German  of  Jean  Paul  Richter,  by  Edward  Henry  Noel.  Two 
volumes,  16mo.  First  Series,  pp.  348.  Second  Series,  pp.  400.  Price 
$1.00  each. 

PHILOSOPHICAL    MISCELLANIES.       Translated 

from  the  French  of  Cousin,  Joupfboy,  and  B.  Constant.  With  Intro- 
ductory and  Critical  Notices.  By  Geokqe  Riplky.  Two  volumes, 
12mo.  pp.  784.    Price  $1.00  each. 


SELECT  MINOR  POEMS.  Translated  from  the  Ger- 

man  of  Goethe  and  Schiller,  with  Notes.     By  John  S.  Dwight. 
One  volume,  12mo.  pp.  460.     Price  $1.00. 


ECKERMAN'S    CONVERSATIONS.       Conversa- 

tions  with  Goethe  in  the  Last  Years  of  his  Life.  Translated 
from  the  German  by  S.  M.  Fuller.  One  volume,  12mo.  pp.  440. 
Price  $1.00. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  ETHICS.    Including  a  Criti- 

CAL  Survey  of  Moral  Systems.  Translated  from  the  French  of 
JouFPROY,  by  William  H.  Channing.  Two  volumes,  ISmo.  pp.  732. 
Price  $1.00  each. 

vm. 

GERMAN    LITERATURE.      Translated    from   the 

Geiman  of  Wolfgang  Mcnzel,  by  Cornelius  C.  Felton.  Thiee 
volumes,  12mo,  pp.  1172.    Price  $1.00  each. 


JAMES  MUNROE  AND  COMPANY'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


THEODORE,  or  THE  SCEPTIC'S  CONVERSION. 

History  op  the  Culture  of  a  Protestant  Clergyman.  Translated 
from  the  German  of  De  Wette,  by  James  F.  Clarke.  Two  volumei, 
12mo.  pp.  798.    Price  $1.00  each. 


HUMAN  LIFE  ;  or  Lectures  on  Practical  Ethics. 

Translated  from  the  German  of  De  Wette,  by  Samuel  Osgood.  Tvfo 
volumes,  12mo.  pp.  800.    Prije  $1.00  each. 


SONGS  AND  BALLADS  from  Uhland,  Korner,  Biir- 

ger,  and  other  Lyric  Poets.    Translated  from  the  German,  with  Notes, 
by  Charles  T.  Brooks.    Oae  volume  12mo.  pp.  3(30.    Price  $1.00. 


THE  NEIGHBORS.   By  Frederika  Bremer.   Trans- 

lated  by  Mary  Howitt.    Two  volumes,  12mo.  pp.  488.    Price  50  cents 
each. 


±111. 

GERMAN  ROMANCE.    Specimens  of  Its  Chief  Au- 

thors ;  with  Biographical  and  Critical  Notices.  By  Thomas  Carlyle. 
Two  voJuiues,  12rao.  Steel  Portrait,  pp.794.    Price  $1.50. 

XIV. 

GUIZOT'S  ESSAY.     Essay  on  the  Character  and 

Influence  of  Washington  in  the  Revolution  op  the  United 
States  op  America.  Translated  fiom  the  French  by  George  S. 
Hillard.     One  volume,  ICmo.  pp.  204.  Price  50  cents. 


THETRUE  STORY  OF  MY  LIFE.   A  Sketch.  By 

Hans  Christian  Anderson.    Translated  by  Mary  Howitt.    16mo. 
pp.  306.    Price  62  cents. 


HEINE'S  LETTERS.     Letters  Auxiliary  to  the  His- 

tnry  of  Modern  Polite  Literature  in  Germany,     'i'rnnslated  from    the 
German  by  G.  W.  Haven.    One  volume  16ino.  pp.  17-J.    Price  50  cents. 


UCSB  LIBRARY 


,,liC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRAR 


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